These words elicit a myriad of opinions to those who know anything about education, and quite frankly, to those who don't know anything about education as well.
Throughout my college education classes as well as my experiences as a teacher, I have studied the Common Core English Language Arts (CCSS ELA) on numerous occasions. I don't want to get into the pros and cons of government imposed standards today. I want to address a bigger issue.
How should Christian schools respond to the Common Core standards?
The following Washington Post article describes opposing viewpoints that Catholic schools take when it comes to the CCSS. This isn't just a debate among the Catholics; it's a debate in our schools as well.
Let me start off by saying, I am the most familiar with the high school ELA standards since that is my content area. I am not familiar with the other content areas or even the lower ELA standards. These opinions are based on my experiences and research.
I do not have a problem with the ELA standards. In some areas are the grade level standards weak? Possibly, but there is nothing wrong with exceeding a standard. Teachers just need to be able to show that their students can at least meet the standard.
My school does not use CCSS, but does that mean I ignore them? No. I am constantly comparing my students' knowledge to the standards to see if they are on track. My goal is for my students to meet the grade level standards. The CCSS give guidelines for what a student should be able to do upon completing high school. Since the goal of secondary education is to prepare students for life after high school, I think that meeting a common set of standards is a very good thing. I personally believe that students who graduate from a Christian school need to have received an education from a Biblical worldview that not only matches state schools but also exceeds it. If students can't meet the same basic standards as public school students, what does that do to the Christian testimony and reputation of a school?
The controversy arises not from the standards themselves, but from how states and school districts implement the standards. Do I think that Christian high school students need to be reading The Stranger, The Kite Runner, or The Catcher in the Rye? Not necessarily. There are many other appropriate novels that can be used to teach about other cultures and philosophies as well as key elements of literature, yet many schools dictate these novels as part of the curriculum because they are "required by Common Core." The ELA standards never state what novels must be taught. Sure, they give suggestions on what novels to teach, but they aren't requirements.
The standards themselves are amoral, and, being such, I think that Christian schools should use them as best they can in order to prepare students for a world outside of Christian education. But like in all areas of life, the standards need to be implemented from a Christian worldview.
References
Strauss, V. (2015, September 20). Why Catholics are fighting each other over the Common Core standards. Retrieved March 08, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/09/20/why-catholics-are-fighting-each-other-over-the-common-core-standards/?utm_term=.fe69b2467e5f
