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I agree with toobusytoday, the curriculum can be interpreted differently in different districts. The district where I attended school in PA was the only one I ever heard of to have the math sequence in high school be: algebra I, algebra II, geometry. Most districts do Algebra I, geometry, then algebra II, as did my kids' high school in CO.
The common core standards are just that, a core. States/districts are free to add other subjects/requirements.
I think if you look at the graduation requirements for most states you would find that they are, for the most part, the same or very close to it. Every state requires a couple years of science, a couple years of math, a couple years of Language Arts, a couple years of Social Science, etc. Most require more than that but you get the idea. Most states with better education levels mirror college entrance expectations and will require some credits in fine arts, foreign languages, etc. What is different is how those subjects are taught and how seriously the students take getting an education. When you have some districts with 99% graduations rates from 9th to 12th grade and others that have 30% graduation rates...it isn't the curriculum that is the issue.
It is a curriculum issue because while courses are named the same thing in different states, what those courses include is NOT standard.
True, however, there are really only a handful of textbook companies out there and the textbooks all pretty much say the same things, just present the information differently. Most schools will use those as a guide for lesson prep, etc. Math, for example, 1+1=2 pretty much everywhere in the world.
Oh, and in our state, MN history is usually taught in the middle school years, 5-6th grade or so.
True, however, there are really only a handful of textbook companies out there and the textbooks all pretty much say the same things, just present the information differently. Most schools will use those as a guide for lesson prep, etc. Math, for example, 1+1=2 pretty much everywhere in the world.
Oh, and in our state, MN history is usually taught in the middle school years, 5-6th grade or so.
Actually, the textbooks are quite variable. Note that Texas is taking out History curricula by eliminating all contributions by minorities, eliminating Thomas Jefferson and calling separation of church and state into question.
Conservatives passed one amendment, for instance, requiring that the history of McCarthyism include “how the later release of the Venona papers confirmed suspicions of communist infiltration in U.S. government.†The Venona papers were transcripts of some 3,000 communications between the Soviet Union and its agents in the United States.
Even in math - Algebra I may not cover the same topics in the same order (so kids who move mid-year can be screwed). Geometry can be taught as real Geometry or as Geometry without proofs (as was done in my inner city Chicago school and which led to my getting out of teaching the year they decided no kids would get the standard class). Physics is sometimes taught as real Physics and sometimes taught as Conceptual Physics (with no math).
A National curriculum with standards would hopefully change this.
Should we expect uniform quality and coverage of subjects from our schools? Should public schools, at least up until High School, be a Federal responsibility?
Schools are paid for through local taxes.
Some schools have inferior equipment and teachers because there is not enough money.
Some neighborhoods are upper middle class where parents take the time to interact with their children more, go to PTA meetings, help with homework. Perhaps they don't require extra resources.
I know, there are those who get very indignant over too much federal power already, but I am thinking about what is the most effective way to have the best work force possible for the future of the country.
Do you think this would be an overall good change?
How about local governments dictate what the LOCAL kids should learn? Education was gotten so much worse since the Dept. of Education was created in 1979. Big government is NEVER the answer.
How about local governments dictate what the LOCAL kids should learn? Education was gotten so much worse since the Dept. of Education was created in 1979. Big government is NEVER the answer.
Another half truth, maybe even quarter truth. There has been a dept. of ed since 1867. It became a cabinet level dept. in 1953 under the Eisenhower admin, under the old dept. of Health, Education and Welfare. Education was made its own cabinet level dept in 1980.
How should local govts decide what local kids need to learn? Do you really think a kid in Minnesota needs to learn something different than a kid in Pennsylvania? We are a very mobile society. It would behoove schools to teach for a moblie population.
Another half truth, maybe even quarter truth. There has been a dept. of ed since 1867. It became a cabinet level dept. in 1953 under the Eisenhower admin, under the old dept. of Health, Education and Welfare. Education was made its own cabinet level dept in 1980.
How should local govts decide what local kids need to learn? Do you really think a kid in Minnesota needs to learn something different than a kid in Pennsylvania? We are a very mobile society. It would behoove schools to teach for a moblie population.
It was a departmentI in 1867, but was then demoted to become an office of the Dpt. of the interior until 1979.
Local governments should decide by themselves what to learn. I don't know what a kid in another locality should learn- that's up the communtiy.
Actually, the textbooks are quite variable. Note that Texas is taking out History curricula by eliminating all contributions by minorities, eliminating Thomas Jefferson and calling separation of church and state into question.
Even in math - Algebra I may not cover the same topics in the same order (so kids who move mid-year can be screwed). Geometry can be taught as real Geometry or as Geometry without proofs (as was done in my inner city Chicago school and which led to my getting out of teaching the year they decided no kids would get the standard class). Physics is sometimes taught as real Physics and sometimes taught as Conceptual Physics (with no math).
A National curriculum with standards would hopefully change this.
With all due respect, Golfgal, I'm with Nana above. I have a student who's taking the first year of a language at a local high school, and despite the fact that you'd think the first year of a language just about anywhere would be about the same, it's not.
For example, just to be specific, the online version of this class the studentwas considering taking from an accredited online school goes through about a chapter of the classic Wheelock's Latin every week or so during the year. In this student's high school class, they have a far easier textbook, one that presents far fewer concepts, and they're going through it about one chapter every two to two and a half weeks. The level of education is just...well, it's just much easier. Even so, this student is getting the identical *credit* for this course even though the level of education is far different.
Note: Just for the record, this student and this student's family are wishing they had taken the online course.
Speaking closer to home, even within my own district there is an incredible amount of variability. To be honest, I don't think the CCSS go far enough, mostly because they fail to provide solid texts that need to be taught. Other than specifically naming some crucial American documents (the Declaration, etc.), they are deliberately vague about what texts to teach or how hard they should be. Unscrupulous teachers, administrators, or others are free to interpret these standards far too liberally, so that an "essay" can be interpreted as "a half-page composition." I honestly think the CCSS need to be far more specific than they are. Still, they're an improvement, at least.
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