In 2009, governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states launched the development of the brand new Common Core State Standards. The new Common Core Standards are meant to properly prepare students for college, a career, and a successful life style. The standards clearly state what students are expected to learn and understand by each grade level. Common Core is a very fast paced way of learning and teaching. It is built upon the knowledge through higher order thinking skills and focusing on core concepts at an early age. These new standards of teaching are way too difficult for students. It is absolutely necessary that they change now.

According to an article published by the Washington Post, in 2012, there are eight main reasons why common core has to go. One; standards should not be attached to school subjects, but to the qualities of mind. Two; the world changes very quickly. What was in important last month could be totally meaningless today. Three; the Common Core Standards assume what is needed to know to be successful in life is taught in the traditional core subjects. In the traditional core subjects students are not taught how to buy a house or raise a child, but all of them could tell you what Pythagora’s theorem is. Four; too much effort is being put into Common Core that no one is even noticing the real reason for poor student performance. Five; Common Core kills teacher student innovation. Without innovation we would not be where we are today as a society. Six; Common Core Standards are made for the important national standardized test, exams, and assessments. These tests are incapable of evaluating students complex thoughts, bias cannot be avoided, and verbal learning cannot be measured. Along with the boatloads of money being wasted. Seven; to the public, standards mean “performance that meets a standard, that is about average.” However it can also mean “like everyone else”. Standardizing minds is what the standards are trying to do. Eight; rather than reading about something children should be doing. There are studies that prove when an act is done, it is more memorable. If you read about someone else doing the science experiment it is not nearly as memorable in your brain compared to if you did it yourself. Lastly, Common Core Standards take the creativity out of your mind. As students, we are taught that to answer a math problem, the correct way to do it is by doing it the one way you are told. If you find your own way, and it works, you are told it is wrong and you need to do it the other way. Common Core is getting every person in the class room to think the same. Every person looks different and acts different, why should our brains all work the same? Common Core needs to go.

In addition to those eight main reasons, there are several more. Common Core Standards are not good for students and teachers’ self-esteem. Every year, children in the state of New York, in grades 3-8, have to take the New York State Assessment. Each one of those assessments, for English and Math, take three days per subject. On top of these tests there are also SLOs at the beginning and end of every school year, to test what a child has learned. The New York Times says, “These assessments will be more rigorous than any in the past.” When tests and classes are more difficult, the majority of students will not do as well as they could have if the class or test was simpler. If a student keeps failing or not succeeding in something, it is only natural that that student will stop caring and will not put in the maximum amount of effort. Children in kindergarten through second grade also have to take “assessments” to make sure they are learning at a fast enough pace for Common Core. Also, these so called Common Core State Mandated Assessments are only meant to be a teacher evaluation, to make sure the teacher is teaching the correct thing and is doing it correctly. However; that also puts a lot of pressure onto the teacher to gear much of his or her instruction to those tests, rather than to just teaching the subject so the students completely understand. On these assessments if a student doesn’t care and completely bombs the test, on purpose, it reflects the teacher. Therefore administrators believe that that teacher is a not properly teaching because his or her students did not do well on the test. Almost every day in math, a new topic is taught because the teacher is told that his or her students must be able to answer and understand these topics by the end of this grade. As a result, a new topic is taught; the next class you build upon that new topic from last class and then a few classes later you will be tested on it to make sure that you understand. Therefore, when the Common Core State Mandated Assessments come around, you can answer every question that has to do with that topic correctly. What if a student did not understand the new topic on the first day it was taught? The rest of the material taught within that unit, which is built upon the knowledge of the first day martial will make absolutely no sense to that student. To add onto the student not understanding, he or she will most likely not do well on the tests about that topic. Also, some kids are brilliant in math, but if you hand them a book and tell them to build a thesis about the main character, they would have absolutely no idea where to even begin. Still, every student is tested on the exact same thing on these Common Core State Mandated Assessments. Tests do not always test a person’s knowledge. Some students are brilliant but once they sit down and start a test they forget. They just don’t test well. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein. When bad grades received the student thinks he’s dumb or stupid and will stop trying all together. Common core needs to leave.

In contrast, there is obviously some part of the Common Core that is working because people are putting tons of money and hard work into creating these standards. According to the ACT (The ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school) three out of four kids entering college, before common core, were not academically prepared for college courses. Old standards were not sufficient enough for preparation into a fulfilling college career and a flourishing life. Common Core standards teach students how to read more complex material, write better, speak properly, listen more often, and use language effectively in a variety of areas. It also encourages students to solve math problems in a real world situation. The standards establish guidelines for English Language Arts as well as for Literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Overall, Common Core does have some good components.

The Common Core standards expectations for students and teachers are unreasonable. They expect the whole country to rapidly change from the old standards to the new ones in the blink of an eye. Not everyone believes common core is a bad thing. Some school teachers and students think it is an absolutely wonderful system of teaching and learning. Some like the way of teaching, but they think that the tests are completely useless, a waste of precious time and unfair to the students. The majority of students and teachers feel common core is ridicules. It’s all about how and when tests can be given. Common Core standards devoid true knowledge. The world is all about creativity. Creating newer and faster ways of communicating, transporting, and doing everyday tasks takes innovation. In summary, common core does not represent the only knowledge. Common Core focuses on English, history, math, and science, and that to be “smart” and “successful” you need to know all of these things. In reality creativity, innovation, and individuality helps foster knowledge.