Yes! Someone finally woke up in Indianapolis. Some have finally realized that our state academic standards were superior to the Common Core and the time spent on developing new plans and tests over the past two years could have been better spent focusing on more effective teaching, planning and assessing of our existing standards. The funny thing is that the groups (from politics, business, special interest groups etc) that have taken pro and con positions are not the usual bedfellows This should be interesting.
When our now ousted Superintendent of Public Instruction moved us to Common Core he did it outside the normal procedures. There was no input from anyone directly affected. He just pushed it through with political maneuvers and misinformation. Teachers were shut out of the discussion and given their marching orders for the implementation. All of the Republicans in the legislature cheered him on.
Indiana's academic standards across the board have been evaluated by numerous professional groups and experts and they rank in the top four in every area when compared to the other states. Our students will gain little from switching to the watered down, vague Common Core. The new textbooks are horrible, especially in math, and parents are starting to notice how many skills are now being taught to cover the CC. One called it fuzzy math.
The new Superintendent , a Democrat, had requested a review of the Common Core and how it is being implemented but has not direcly asked to return to our state standards. She is working with a state board of ed appointed by the former governor who initiated and supported the change so she has started slowly and tried to move carefully. One of the state senators, a Republican, has filed a bill to require reconsideration of the change and all of a sudden he has the attention and support of some of the others! Maybe we will finally look at the CC from an honest perspective.
How is the Common Core being implemented in your state? Any problems? Do you support the concept of the Common Core?