confused

So, the new core (aka the Common Core) has been implemented this year in the school district I teach in.  The standards for Language Arts have not changed that much from what we had previously, but apparently, the standards for math and science are very different.  From the math I have seen for my own daughter it is more challenging, but I have heard arguments that the standards are too easy or too weird for some students.  My confusion comes with all of the arguments against the common core, and the parents who do not want their children to take the SAGE tests, which are basically the end of level testing that the students have been completing for years.

The tests this year are new and different in the sense that they are computer adaptive.  The students are given a question and then the next question they get is easier or harder based on whether or not they answered correctly.  Apparently some parents are concerned with this type of testing because they feel their students are too young to be tested in this way.  My question is, at what age should we start testing them?  I feel that kindergarten is a young age to start, but when do we start?  When do we expect our students/children to become critical thinkers and start thinking on their own?  How long do we continue with the traditions we have and not try new testing methods or challenge our students to think on their own?

For years I have felt that I am simply spoon-feeding my students, and it seems to be getting worse.  They want the A without the work that goes with it.  If I tell them to read a chapter in a book as homework and complete study questions to go along with it, I am lucky if I get 1% of my students who complete the assignment.  The others just figure that I'll go over the answers in class with them so they don't need to do the work on their own.  They also don't want to give support for their answers.  They want to say "Because" and that should be good enough for me.  Heaven forbid that they cite a source that supports their reasoning, or that they even find a source that supports their reasoning.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I love teaching, but I really feel that change is necessary, and the Common Core is pushing our students to that change.  They can no longer just take a guess on a multiple choice test and get the answer right.  They have to actually read the material on the tests and think about their response  In fact, they actually have to type in some responses and explain their reasoning.  In short, we are making them think and explain their thinking.  We are teaching them to be critical thinkers, and to be prepared for something beyond high school. There are problems with the test; for example, it is very subjective, and I'm not sure that a computer can really grade a subjective test.  However, I like that it is asking the students to explain and support their answers.  I like that they have to look at multiple sources and use those sources to support their answers.  I like that they are being challenged, and they have to think about what they are reading before they respond.

In short, I am in favor of this change in education and testing.  The Common Core is not the evil that some people are making it out to be.  The Government is not trying to collect data or DNA from our students.  They are not asking how much money we make, how many toilets are in our homes, or what kind of music we listen to.  They already know all this any way.  The Common Core is supported by the Government, and funded by the Government, but it is not some conspiracy to turn our students into robots.  It is a movement to prepare our students for higher level education and careers.  Because of what we are doing in our schools now, our students will be better leaders in the future.

Concerned about the future

As a teacher, I am always worried about what parents will think of me, and if they will feel that I am a good enough teacher for their students.  Usually, the parents that I meet are very positive and supportive, and I enjoy meeting with them most of the time.  However, at the end of each term, I absolutely dread sending out emails or calling parents.  This is the time when the parents who don't really seem to care at all during the term decide to come out and be an advocate for their student. I just have to say here that I am frustrated that I never hear from them at all until grades are due and deadlines for late work have come and gone.  For example, where I teach, the counselors allow students to repeat English if they fail one year by enrolling in a class again the next year.  Inevitably, each year, I end up with a junior in my sophomore classes because he/she failed when a sophomore.  This year, my junior was actually court-ordered to be in my sophomore class, and he barely passed the first term.  His mom came in to meet with me at the first parent/teacher conference, and I shared with her then that he would need to start actually doing the work in my class if he wanted to pass.  At the end of the term, he slipped work in on the very last day of the term (after my deadline), and I gave in because I didn't want to have to deal with him again.  However, I told him that second term would not be the same.  I would uphold my deadline, and if the deadline came and he was failing, I would not make any exceptions.

I decided that for this second term, I would do a better job of keeping in touch with his parents.  I sent emails home periodically to the parents, hoping that I would get a response.  I never received any answers.  Eight weeks came and went, and today was basically the last day of the second term.  I was not really surprised when he came in after school today, but I was a little perturbed to see his mother with him.  She proceeded to ask me if there was anything that he could do to fix his grade.  I have to say I felt guilty telling her that the deadline was before the Christmas break, and I had sent numerous emails warning parents about the deadline, not to mention telling the students daily about it for the two weeks before the Christmas break.  I also felt a pang of guilt telling her that he had chosen to not meet the deadlines and had made the decision to not come in for remediation when I had assigned him to my class, and the administration had also told him he needed to be there.  She ended the conversation with "I understand".

Yet, I don't think she really did understand.  Throughout the conversation, her son told her, "I told you so," and I thought, "I sent you numerous emails through the term.  Why didn't you bother then? Why are you waiting until now to try to help him?  Where were you for the last eight weeks?"  Now, I know I am judging her as a mother.  She probably was trying to help him take initiative on his own, and then she saw that wouldn't work.  So as a result, she tried to bail him out after the ship had sunk basically.  I don't know if that really was the case, but I like to think that is how it happened at home.  I like to think that every parent tells their high school students that he/she needs to take care of their grades, and that they are becoming adults so now is the time for them to learn to take responsibility and figure out how to do things on their own.

But I still wonder, where are these parents during the term?  Why is it always the end of the term when they show up?  Where are they at midterm when I send the first email, asking what I can do to help their student pass?  Why do they not respond to phone calls or email messages?  When they receive the post cards I send home saying that their student is failing, why do they not call me then?  What is it about our society that has all of us (parents and students alike) thinking that there is always hope at the last minute?  Where have we gone wrong?  As this new generation graduates from high school and moves on to college and the work force, what are they going to take with them?  Are their bosses and professors going to accept the last minute submissions even after deadlines have passed?  Are their parents going to call their professors and bosses and ask them what more can be done?  I for one really hope that is not the case, but I am afraid that is where we are heading.  As long as the end of the term continues to come around, and parents continue to wait until the last minute to get involved, then the end of the term will always be hell for teachers, and students will always think that they can get more than a second, third, or even fourth chance.