Posted on 02/14/2015 11:25:50 PM PST by Nachum
Honored as the “Top Teacher” by ABC’s “Live with Kelly and Michael” show, Stacie Starr was speaking at an education forum earlier this week when she dropped a bombshell.
The veteran teacher at Elyria High School in Elyria, Ohio, told a stunned audience Monday she will resign at the end of the school year because of the new federal Common Core system of standards and assessments adopted by her state, reported the local Chronicle-Telegram newspaper.
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/02/stacie-starr.jpg Stacie Starr
Stacie Starr
At the forum, which sought to help parents navigate the complex standardized testing system, Starr was talking about how special education has suffered under Common Core.
As she fought back tears, she disclosed she is leaving traditional education and plans ‘to teach in a different way.”
“I can’t do it anymore, not in this ‘drill ‘em and kill ‘em’ atmosphere,” she said. “I don’t think anyone understands that in this environment if your child cannot quickly grasp material, study like a robot and pass all of these tests, they will not survive.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Good on her. She’s got to be the top teacher of all time to do what she did! She has principles and she stands behind them.
That’s what it sounded like to me ass well.
I read one comment on Common Core where they said: “There ought to be a union to report this to!” DUM-DUM-DUMDUMDUM! HA!
From my interaction with public school teachers over the years, I’m quite sure that any widespread opposition to this can only mean actual work and results are expected from teachers. Here in NJ our public school teachers are notoriously “entitled” (and wealthy), so anything they oppose is usually worth looking at.
Common Core might be a disaster, but the status quo is as well; to me it seems like more of the same, but more is expected of teachers. I think the days of making $90K+ working 6.5 hour days, 180 days per year, with no performance metrics are over.
If teacher opposition continues to spread then I’ll assume Common Core is worth a try.
That's exactly what I took from it. Is there really anything in Common Core about drilling and testing?
The teacher's union are against standardized tests because they don't want to be measured on their success or failure. We are all too stupid and they are all much smarter than us, so we are to just trust them and shut up and not ask any questions...
Good for this teacher for standing up.
As far as math goes, this is the first time I’ve seen a reasonable description of the main problems for CC. It’s not devil worship and it’s absolutely not the “examples” supposedly showing how math is done in CC. Those are not examples of how math is done in CC. People who put that forth have an unknown/untold reason to oppose CC - which is fine of course - but they’re lying about those “examples”. Trust does not follow...
The brave teacher indicated that CC math only works for kids who “get it” very quickly and that there is far too much testing. She’s right. My position on this issue comes from spending appx 100 days per year in a high school math class room as a sub. I know the curriculum and due to my background I teach according to plans left by the teachers.
The CC is working for the brightest b/c they can learn the material faster - with just a breeze-through. Most students cannot. And the problem of kids in a class room who do not have the prerequisite knowledge grows every year.
Why are kids who haven’t learned prior year’s material passed to the next class? Because part of the CC is this metric called CCRPI which measures, among other things, graduation rate [not how you would think though] and if a kid is held back, it will reduce the school’s and the system’s CCRPI. Which in turn reduces ... wait for it.... the money provided by feds.
Yeah big surprise. It’s all about money. Screw the kids’ learning - just get the money. Who cares if the kid can’t do squat to contribute to society upon graduation... we got money every time he took a test and got an answer correct. So, by all means, keep teaching to the test and keep testing. Oy vey.
So teachers are being crushed with pressure to pass kids - irrespective of their learning. There is a program where I sub frequently [they tried to hire me to this position] in which kids who have a failing semester average can come put in some seat time - 9 hours - at the end of the semester... do the seat time and voila your grade is changed to a 70 and you pass. They are not required to do anything at all except be in that seat. I’m not kidding.
So teachers are leaving to private schools that have a curriculum that is designed for learning. I don’t know how any of them can do it. I have a hard time just seeing it - it turns my stomach. This year [calendar 2015] I no longer sub. Poor kids.
Maybe that was the fault of the writer of the article who was focusing on the Common Core element.........
She is not the only one. I recently retired after 32 years of teaching. The same year I retired, the BEST and I do mean best enrichment teacher I ever knew left teaching with 5 years to go before she could receive full medical coverage for life.
CC fixes nothing. Teachers proctor their own tests so cheating will be rampant. Students who should fail will pass, teachers who should be fired will be promoted. CC content is so intense that it is impossible to get it all in in time for tests. What I’m doing is exposing my students to content and then moving on, yet the end of course exams test for analytical skills. CC testing for the end of the school year starts Tuesday. Two days from today, students across the country will be tested on a year’s worth of content. Current freshmen will miss seven days of school for this. They’ll miss another week in May for the final round. At what point do they learn if they are testing?
Yes. "Drill 'em and kill 'em" is actually a contemptuous term for silly things like memorizing the times table, and dates of historical events, which apparently we don't do anymore.
I don't know about math, I'm an English teacher, but the Common Core implementation is having virtually no effect on my teaching style. In fact, in California it's actually progress, because they are moving away from insisting on the multi-cultural canon wherein you get one white author and it better be a woman. Now they're saying we should go back to texts like Call of the Wild and Little Women. This is definitely an improvement.
But our students are so incredibly uninformed, a little memorization is just what they need, and this year I have really been drilling them on essay structure and vocabulary, and I'm seeing more progress.
The New Math is ridiculous. I gave a teacher a problem to solve. She told me why they had the number line. Evidently, they have convinced themselves that the kids can't understand the old methods and need the new number line. For thousands of years, kids could understand addition, subtraction, but now they need the number line, which takes a lot longer to do unless it is a simple problem. When she left we went over her number line. She had it wrong.
Another example, I asked to see my granddaughter's work. She said that the teacher told them they were not to let the parents or guardians see it. She finally gave it to me. There wasn't anything wrong with this particular reading assignment, but the thought that they are telling kids not to share any school work with parents seems to be setting the kids up to be indoctrinated in the later grades.
An example of this indoctrination is the teaching of Islam in a Florida school.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/10/ron-wagner-florida-dad-furious-at-islamic-school-l/
By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Ron Wagner, a Florida father, said his son’s world history book has gone too far with a lesson that teaches Muhammad is the messenger of God.
One part of the book, for instance, reads: “There is no god, but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God,” he said, quoting from his son’s Lyman High School history book, WFTV reported.
“Students were instructed to recite this prayer as the first Pillar of Islam, off of the board at the teacher’s instruction,” Mr. Wagner said. “For it to be mandatory and part of the curriculum and in the textbooks, didn’t seem right.”
The chapter in the history book is called the “Rise of Islam,” and includes text of the faith’s prayers and scriptures, right from the Koran, WFTV reported.
Mr. Wagner also complained that the first 100 pages of the of the religious-based chapters that deal with Judaism and Christianity are missing — and the school district explains that omission by saying the defect, which impacted 68 books, is due to a manufacturer mistake, WFTV reported.
The school also said that the “Pillars of Islam are benchmarks in the state curriculum” and must be taught, WFTV reported.
Feb 10, 2015 // 9:55am
The father of a Florida high schooler says students were required to recite an Islamic prayer in a 10th grade history class.
“Students were instructed to recite this prayer as the first Pillar of Islam, off of the board at the teacher's instruction,” Ron Wagner said.
He said that his son's world history book at Lyman High School has a chapter dedicated to the “Rise of Islam,” which includes prayers and scriptures from the Koran.
“For it to be mandatory and part of the curriculum and in the textbooks, didn't seem right,” Wagner said, adding that the book doesn't contain similar sections about Judaism and Christianity.
Wagner said he became concerned when he noticed a text message reminder from the teacher to his son about completing a prayer rug assignment and studying an Islam packet.
WFTV reported:
Inside of the book is a chapter dedicated to the “Rise of Islam,” including prayers and scriptures from the Quran. What's more disturbing for Wagner is that the first 100 pages discussing Judaism and Christianity are missing. The district blames a manufacturer defect in 68 books that are only a year old.
According to Wagner, Dr. Michael Blasewitz, who oversees the high school curriculum, said, “The Pillars of Islam are benchmarks in the state curriculum.”
Wagner's concerns prompted a district investigation that found the teacher never tried to indoctrinate or convert students.
Some other students interviewed by administrators said they were not required to recite the prayer aloud. They did discuss a video played during class about the religion, but Blasewitz got frustrated and stormed out when 9 Investigates asked whether the district is considering changes to the curriculum.
“You're just going to walk away from our interview when we're trying to get information,” said investigative reporter Daralene Jones.
Before Blasewitz walked out, he further justified the curriculum, saying students learn specific Judaism doctrine, the Bible and its scriptures, in earlier school years.
“If anything, it's a little imbalanced toward Christianity and Judaism,” Blasewitz said.
Harris Zafar, vice-president at Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, told Elisabeth Hasselbeck on “Fox and Friends” this morning that he applauds the school teaching Islam.
“We actually applaud any teachers that are providing a well-rounded education to our children,” he said. “I mean, it's not just learning about one thing, but a comprehensive knowledge on such a matter.”
Radio talk show host Tammy Bruce countered by saying “there's a difference with teaching about a religion, and teaching a religion.”
Watch the “Fox and Friends” clip above.
But Commie Core is supported by both parties.
Pray America is waking
My sister-in-law teaches at a private school and the waiting list is enormous. People who can afford a private school education are pulling their kids out in droves.
Good for her. To me she is a hero.
APL, what grade do you teach?
Noting even that they were about 250 years apart, how were the likes of Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson so much better educated through public schooling than any are today?
I think it’s the “hard” bigotry of lowered expectations...unionized.
Even before common core, they were not teaching kids to memorize their math tables. I had to teach my own kids this skill at home. In fact, homework only exposed missing pieces of skills and knowledge not being delivered at school. I would note the problems and put together a home “homework” plan to fill in the gaps. The weekends and summers were full.
Saw a 5 minute video of just that on Fox News. The teacher had a black board on the sidewalk and then the reporter asked passers by to solve the fourth grade math problem, using the common core technique. No one could do it!
I teach mostly 7th, and sometimes 8th, in Los Angeles.
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