ACS - The common Core, testing standards and data collection
The following slide presentation is titled "ACS - The Common Core, Testing Standards and Data Collection". These
slides presented to ACS parents as "the facts concerning our school" by the ACS Governing Board President are posted below. After months of endless research and numerous meetings and conversations with Douglas County School District and Colorado State Representatives, we have discovered many facts pertaining to Common Core that were left off these slides. Parenting Over Policy has gone to great lengths to correct the misinformation given to ACS parents on these slides and provide parents and community members with the truth along with resources that can be used to support our side. Parenting Over Policy Says... There's More!!
Common C ore 101: The History of Common Core
The Common Core State Initiative Standards, also known as CCSSI, is one of the largest movements to hit American education. Formed by the National Governor’s Association (NGA), The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and an organization called Achieve Inc., which received $43 million from Bill Gates to develop and create these standards, they were created to bring a “one size fits all” style of education into our children’s classrooms. Read more...
Most would agree that when a movement is considered “state led” it implies that this was something initiated within the state department, governor’s office, or approved by the state legislature... THEN signed into law by the state’s Governor. Read more...
We went directly to the National Governor's Association page to find out how these “state led” standards came to be following The Race To The Top incentives. According to the NGA website, the Common Core State Standards Initiatives (CCSSI) began as an initiative by the Chair of the National Governors Association, Janet Napolitano.
Read more from the NGA...
Moving forward, in a June 2, 2010 press release from the US Department of Education, Statement on National Governors Association and State Education Chiefs Common Core Standards, "U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued the following statement regarding today's release by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers on a set of state-led education standards, known as the Common Core State Standards.
“The release today of the Common Core State Standards is an important step toward the improvement of quality education nationwide. States have come together to develop standards that are internationally benchmarked and include the knowledge and skills that students must learn to succeed in college and career.
The nation’s governors and chief state school officers are to be commended for their leadership. These English Language Arts and mathematics standards have been developed by the states, for the states, based on research and best practices. They have benefited from extensive input from teachers, school leaders, parents, business and civic leaders, civil rights leaders, higher education and the public. These standards will help teachers, students and parents know what is needed for students to succeed in college and careers, and will enable states, school districts and teachers to more effectively collaborate to accelerate learning and close achievement gaps nationwide.
The release of these Common Core State Standards is just the beginning of the effort. As states move forward to implement the standards, they will need to translate standards into classroom teaching that will help all students master these new standards. The Department plans to support state implementation efforts by providing federal funds for high quality assessments, professional development to help teachers enhance the knowledge and skills needed to help students master the standards, and research to support continual improvement of the standards and assessments over time.
As the nation seeks to maintain our international competitiveness, ensure all students regardless of background have access to a high quality education, and prepare all students for college, work and citizenship, these standards are an important foundation for our collective work.”
The direct link to this press release is broken, but you can follow the following link to the US Department of Education site, and type in "Statement on Common Core Standards" in the Search box, the first option should take you to the actual press release.
Link to US Department of Education Press Releases
As far as the "10,000 comments" contained in the "final draft", again the facts prove otherwise...
Read more... and more... and even more.... by the time you are finished reading, we have a feeling you will be well on your way to 10,000 reasons why this point is completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of Common Core.
Here's a great resource full of information with a timeline of Common Core and it's history in Colorado:
Common Core Timeline by Core Concerns
History and Development Process for the Colorado Academic Standards. Read more...
"Common Core - What it is and is not"... with all due respect, one obvious FACT is that Common Core was NOT a state led initiative and IS a Federal initiative.
Common C ore 101: The History of Common Core
The Common Core State Initiative Standards, also known as CCSSI, is one of the largest movements to hit American education. Formed by the National Governor’s Association (NGA), The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and an organization called Achieve Inc., which received $43 million from Bill Gates to develop and create these standards, they were created to bring a “one size fits all” style of education into our children’s classrooms. Read more...
Most would agree that when a movement is considered “state led” it implies that this was something initiated within the state department, governor’s office, or approved by the state legislature... THEN signed into law by the state’s Governor. Read more...
We went directly to the National Governor's Association page to find out how these “state led” standards came to be following The Race To The Top incentives. According to the NGA website, the Common Core State Standards Initiatives (CCSSI) began as an initiative by the Chair of the National Governors Association, Janet Napolitano.
Read more from the NGA...
Moving forward, in a June 2, 2010 press release from the US Department of Education, Statement on National Governors Association and State Education Chiefs Common Core Standards, "U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued the following statement regarding today's release by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers on a set of state-led education standards, known as the Common Core State Standards.
“The release today of the Common Core State Standards is an important step toward the improvement of quality education nationwide. States have come together to develop standards that are internationally benchmarked and include the knowledge and skills that students must learn to succeed in college and career.
The nation’s governors and chief state school officers are to be commended for their leadership. These English Language Arts and mathematics standards have been developed by the states, for the states, based on research and best practices. They have benefited from extensive input from teachers, school leaders, parents, business and civic leaders, civil rights leaders, higher education and the public. These standards will help teachers, students and parents know what is needed for students to succeed in college and careers, and will enable states, school districts and teachers to more effectively collaborate to accelerate learning and close achievement gaps nationwide.
The release of these Common Core State Standards is just the beginning of the effort. As states move forward to implement the standards, they will need to translate standards into classroom teaching that will help all students master these new standards. The Department plans to support state implementation efforts by providing federal funds for high quality assessments, professional development to help teachers enhance the knowledge and skills needed to help students master the standards, and research to support continual improvement of the standards and assessments over time.
As the nation seeks to maintain our international competitiveness, ensure all students regardless of background have access to a high quality education, and prepare all students for college, work and citizenship, these standards are an important foundation for our collective work.”
The direct link to this press release is broken, but you can follow the following link to the US Department of Education site, and type in "Statement on Common Core Standards" in the Search box, the first option should take you to the actual press release.
Link to US Department of Education Press Releases
As far as the "10,000 comments" contained in the "final draft", again the facts prove otherwise...
Read more... and more... and even more.... by the time you are finished reading, we have a feeling you will be well on your way to 10,000 reasons why this point is completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of Common Core.
Here's a great resource full of information with a timeline of Common Core and it's history in Colorado:
Common Core Timeline by Core Concerns
History and Development Process for the Colorado Academic Standards. Read more...
"Common Core - What it is and is not"... with all due respect, one obvious FACT is that Common Core was NOT a state led initiative and IS a Federal initiative.
Parenting Over Policy Says... There's More!!
Curriculum 101: Core Knowledge, Core Virtues and More...Common Core!
The information presented on this slide says that CC standards do not conflict with Core Knowledge. Well, duh. Of course they don’t conflict…Core Knowledge is FULLY aligned with the Common Core Standards, and has been since 2010!!
Read more…
Core Knowledge Foundation made access to Core Knowledge FREE to educators when they aligned their curriculum to Common Core.
Read more…
Interesting statement to ponder when contemplating whether your child’s Core Knowledge education is affected by the Common Core Standards, “The foundation’s decision, she said, is motivated by its belief in the importance of a curriculum that can help “interpret and implement” the common standards.” Be sure to read all the way to the end of the article to get a full scope of the “Meaning of Alignment”.
Read more…
One thing to remember, just because your child attends a “Core Knowledge” school, contrary to popular belief, they are NOT “untouched” by these standards. Why do you think those test scores are so high?
A final thought before moving on… ask yourself, what other curriculum/programs are being used at Academy Charter School, and are they aligned with Common Core?
Reading Wonder
Core Virtues
Saxon Math
FOSS Sciences
Academy Charter School is a Douglas County School District Charter School. What does DCSD have to say about Common Core? From the DCSD Superintendent: Click here
ACS says, “We do not measure our students by these standards, as they set the bar too low for our students.” The bar is set too low, but the context of Common Core being utilized within ACS classrooms seems awfully HIGH!
Curriculum 101: Core Knowledge, Core Virtues and More...Common Core!
The information presented on this slide says that CC standards do not conflict with Core Knowledge. Well, duh. Of course they don’t conflict…Core Knowledge is FULLY aligned with the Common Core Standards, and has been since 2010!!
Read more…
Core Knowledge Foundation made access to Core Knowledge FREE to educators when they aligned their curriculum to Common Core.
Read more…
Interesting statement to ponder when contemplating whether your child’s Core Knowledge education is affected by the Common Core Standards, “The foundation’s decision, she said, is motivated by its belief in the importance of a curriculum that can help “interpret and implement” the common standards.” Be sure to read all the way to the end of the article to get a full scope of the “Meaning of Alignment”.
Read more…
One thing to remember, just because your child attends a “Core Knowledge” school, contrary to popular belief, they are NOT “untouched” by these standards. Why do you think those test scores are so high?
A final thought before moving on… ask yourself, what other curriculum/programs are being used at Academy Charter School, and are they aligned with Common Core?
Reading Wonder
Core Virtues
Saxon Math
FOSS Sciences
Academy Charter School is a Douglas County School District Charter School. What does DCSD have to say about Common Core? From the DCSD Superintendent: Click here
ACS says, “We do not measure our students by these standards, as they set the bar too low for our students.” The bar is set too low, but the context of Common Core being utilized within ACS classrooms seems awfully HIGH!
Parenting Over Policy Says... There's More!!
PII 101: Personally Identifiable Information: More than your “student transcript” or “permanent record”
Let’s talk about “data”. Did you know that our student’s information is now being tracked from preschool through their college years? We are not just talking about the ABCs found on report cards, or how many times a child was absent or that they had a habit of being tardy to second period. Thanks to the Common Core, in addition to a student’s grades and transcripts, a child’s behavior, their diet and medications can now be tracked AND accessed through the data being collected by our schools and school districts.
Read more on data and privacy here…
What concerns us most about these “Data Collection” slides is the complete lack of facts about all of the information actually being collected and accessed on our students. Have you heard about Colorado’s Golden Record, or the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems?
Dan Domagala, Chief Informational Officer of the Colorado Department of Education speaks about their plan to connect your child’s data in a longitudinal format to the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Department of Education, Higher Education, Department of Labor, and the Department of Corrections. Our children’s path from preschool into the workforce will be projected and tracked using this Golden Record.
Watch now:
Dan Domagala, CIO of the Colorado Department of Education Speaks at Informatica World
Read here how parents in Colorado are trying to access their student’s records: Click here
This presentation claims that "The Federal Government does not have access to student level data housed in state data systems." We beg to differ. Federal Access to student data and Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems?
Read more…
Six Things the US Department of Education Did To Deprive Your Child of Privacy Read more...
This collection of data is happening at all ages, beginning in Preschool!! Read more...
Still think your child is not affected? Academy Charter School is piloting "Class Dojo" in some of the school's classrooms. What is "Class Dojo"? Just an online behavioral tracking "tool" to help teachers and administrators monitor your student's behavior in the classroom. Do you recall giving permission for your child to participate in this program? Read more on "Class Dojo" and even more on their Terms of Use.
Have a look at what COPPA Law states relative to these types of programs, parents MUST have to give permission for a child to log into any online program IF the child is 13 or under. Click here
The Federal Government does not have access? Think again!! After doing thorough research and providing you with MANY different sources on data collection, we have no use for the “Data Collection and Use” provided in this presentation.
PII 101: Personally Identifiable Information: More than your “student transcript” or “permanent record”
Let’s talk about “data”. Did you know that our student’s information is now being tracked from preschool through their college years? We are not just talking about the ABCs found on report cards, or how many times a child was absent or that they had a habit of being tardy to second period. Thanks to the Common Core, in addition to a student’s grades and transcripts, a child’s behavior, their diet and medications can now be tracked AND accessed through the data being collected by our schools and school districts.
Read more on data and privacy here…
What concerns us most about these “Data Collection” slides is the complete lack of facts about all of the information actually being collected and accessed on our students. Have you heard about Colorado’s Golden Record, or the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems?
Dan Domagala, Chief Informational Officer of the Colorado Department of Education speaks about their plan to connect your child’s data in a longitudinal format to the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Department of Education, Higher Education, Department of Labor, and the Department of Corrections. Our children’s path from preschool into the workforce will be projected and tracked using this Golden Record.
Watch now:
Dan Domagala, CIO of the Colorado Department of Education Speaks at Informatica World
Read here how parents in Colorado are trying to access their student’s records: Click here
This presentation claims that "The Federal Government does not have access to student level data housed in state data systems." We beg to differ. Federal Access to student data and Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems?
Read more…
Six Things the US Department of Education Did To Deprive Your Child of Privacy Read more...
This collection of data is happening at all ages, beginning in Preschool!! Read more...
Still think your child is not affected? Academy Charter School is piloting "Class Dojo" in some of the school's classrooms. What is "Class Dojo"? Just an online behavioral tracking "tool" to help teachers and administrators monitor your student's behavior in the classroom. Do you recall giving permission for your child to participate in this program? Read more on "Class Dojo" and even more on their Terms of Use.
Have a look at what COPPA Law states relative to these types of programs, parents MUST have to give permission for a child to log into any online program IF the child is 13 or under. Click here
The Federal Government does not have access? Think again!! After doing thorough research and providing you with MANY different sources on data collection, we have no use for the “Data Collection and Use” provided in this presentation.
This ACS presentation only seems to pull from one source to back up the opinions used within the information provided. Parenting Over Policy has tried to provide our readers with multiple sources for our documentation.