Common Core has faced criticism from parents, teachers and policymakers over the years for how it approaches education. The policy was rolled out in 2010 by the Obama administration. To date, there is still a mixed feeling about its impact on the education system and if it has been a failure or a success.
In 2010, a bipartisan group of more than 40 US Governors signed the Common Core State Standards initiative that brought common core into classes. Hopes were high that the US would start being competitive again in the academic front. Parents, teachers, and education stakeholders were tired of the old system and wanted drastic changes in the education system.
The system promised children would read fewer fictional books, write better essays and have a better understanding of mathematical concepts. This, to parents and teachers, sounded promising and they were eager to implement it.
President Obama also endorsed the project in a speech delivered in 2009. He praised the move by the governors to come together and implement the system. He also said the system was for the good of the students who would benefit greatly once common core implementation come into effect. Obama said at the time,
It’s not that their kids are any smarter than ours — it’s that they are being smarter about how to educate their children.
Controversies surrounding Common Core
Ten years later, the education system has faced a lot of challenges along the way. The school performances have not improved and it has received criticism from parents, teachers, and policymakers.
The students the Common Core promised to help the most are trailing behind and the policy has not lived to its name. The most ambitious education program in the US education system has become controversial with a lot of people arguing that it was a complete failure. Its proponents have argued that the project has not been given enough time to conclude its success.
Common core was caught up in a cultural war that pitted activists from both the right and the left who came to detest the core, with education policymakers who could not understand why there was resistance. The status quo and the progressives had different ideas on the path the education system should take.
There is still hope, however, that the system will work out in the long run. Policymakers who crafted Common Core argue that the major problem with the Core was that standards were not rolled out with lesson plans, textbooks, and widespread teacher-training programs.
They are now trying to correct this problem by making the required materials available for learning. They have also refined the education approach that is having an impact on how Common Core is being perceived now. Its success, however, cannot be quantified and it will take time to know if the policy was a failure or a success.
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