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Common Core concerns from teachers and parents

by Morgan Pratt

 

The SAGE test, a new end-of-year testing format will have it's first trial run in the next two weeks for K-12 students. However, some teachers and parents are upset about the new SAGE testing along with the Common Core standards that began his academic year.

 

Mark Peterson, the public relations director for the State Office of Education, said Common Core is a set of teaching standards implemented by the State Board of Education in August of 2013. The new SAGE end-of-year tests are computer-adaptive exams that give immediate results to students on how well they did.

 

“Standards are generally updated on a 5-7 year cycle anyway,” Peterson said. “This will be the first year for the tests using the new language arts and math standards. This will be our baseline year in regards to data collection.”

 

Peterson said the State Board of Education adopted Common Core in August of 2010. He said Utah is on the forefront with these new standards of education along with New York, Kentucky and Iowa.

 

“There was a movement from 2008-2009 that put Common Core together,” Peterson said. “They put together the best practices for standards for mathematics and language arts. It was put together by the National Governor's Association and through the state superintendent's group and the Board of Education adopted that as the latest update.”

 

Whitne Strain, a concerned mother, said she is worried about how students will perform while taking the SAGE tests.

 

“The way the tests are administered there can be kids that are in there for an hour,” Strain said. “That can be extensive for a child depending on the age. We are really concerned with fatigue and frustration with those experiences.”

 

Peterson said the SAGE tests have been designed in a way that will do just the opposite.

 

“Computer-adaptive tests mean that if you are struggling with a question, the questions will actually ease up so that the student are not getting frustrated and walking away from the test,” he said. “Conversely, if you are good at it, the questions will get harder and remain challenging.”

 

Strain and said she is concerned that Common Core will encourage teachers to teaching to the test.

 

Peterson said he disagrees.

 

“Do teachers teach to the tests?” he said. “No, they teach to the standards. And Common Core are those standards.”

 

Margaret Wilkin, a former elementary school teacher for 35 years, she said she is shocked by the implementation of Common Core. Wilkin said as a retired teacher, she is speaking out against the new standards because the current teachers are afraid to speak out to in fear that they will lose their jobs.

 

“I am not against standards and I am not against accountability,” she said. “I am just against the way it is being implemented.”

 

She said the State Board of Education has a lot of power that the average citizen does not know they have.

 

“I do not think the average citizen realizes how important it is to know who these people are,” Wilkin said. “They are the ones who have accepted the Common Core standards without knowing what they were. As a result of the difficulty, 70 people have come forward to run against those people.”

 

Mark Thomas, the public relations director for the Lieutenant Governor's Office, said that there are more people running for the Board of Education than what is typical.

 

Regardless, Peterson said it is too soon to tell if Common Core and the SAGE tests are effective.

 

“This is brand new, this is the first year out of the gate,” he said.

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