On the very same day the task force recommended dropping Common Core, President Barack Obama signed into law a new education bill that prohibits the federal government from mandating or even incentivizing states to adopt standards like the Common Core. Cuomo’s previous education reviews, after all, produced little.
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But that’s not what happened.
The report calls for an overhaul of the Common Core system.
Many complained educators were swamped with confusing materials and not given the direction on how these new approaches would fit into the curricula and taught to students. “I thank Senator Marcellino for his contributions and look forward to discussing this report with the Governor, the Assembly, and all of the various stakeholders across this state”.
The standards should be more flexible and should better consider English language learners and disabled students.
Radford is hopeful the Governor is receptive to the recommended changes.
Establishing a transparent and open process by which NY standards are periodically reviewed by educators and content area experts, since educators know their schools and students best. But the reality is that many educators in the Lower Hudson Valley like the Common Core – at least some of its goals and sections of the standards.
Districts to be able to tailor their curriculum to the new standards.
“Regardless the recommendations don’t do anything to stop that test prep culture it’s going to continue”. “Using high-stakes testing to grade and punish teachers is wrong, so there is no justification for continuing to use these same tests to grade and punish schools”, said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education.
Among them: Common Core testing won’t count against students or teachers until the 2019-2020 school year as well as limiting the number of testing dates and questions for students to curb anxiety.
New York State United Teachers President Karen Magee, whose union fought bitterly with the governor over the initial proposals, calls it a “momentous development”.
Because New York State has almost 700 school districts and 2.65 million students, the task force emphasized that time is needed for any new system to be implemented correctly. But the panel covered a lot of ground in a few short weeks, and it should not be up its 16 people to solve all of New York’s problems. Otherwise, the education wars will continue. The task force was made up of parents, educators, and the state’s assembly and senate. He convened the task force this September.
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The task force found that the aggressive attempt to have the standards in place so quickly left room for confusion amongst teachers, educators, and parents.
