As public schools in New Hampshire begin the process of aligning curriculum to the new Common Core (National) Standards, parents should take the time to know what this means for their children.
The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) together formed the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) to develop a set of academic standards. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a set of learning standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. These standards replaced existing state standards in these subject areas.
To be fair, the old New Hampshire state education standards were some of the poorest academic standards in the country. Unfortunately, under the new CCSS, we will not see much academic improvement, while at the same time we are embracing some truly troubling “reforms.”
Contrary to the claims of the CCSS public relations machine, experts have uncovered the following about Common Core:
- The Common Core only allows States to make changes to the standards by a factor of up to 15 percent. Therefore, if a parent or state official identifies a problem with the CCS, to whom do they appeal? It is unclear who governs these standards, and it seems as though the people of New Hampshire now have to lobby the NGA and CCSSO in Washington, DC in order to make changes necessary to respond to the needs of New Hampshire children.
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