Common Core State Standards Research Paper

In 2009, over 40 U.S. states, along with some U.S. territories, convened to synthesize a set of standards known as the Common Core for states and territories to follow. So far, over four-fifths of all U.S. states and territories have adopted this set of standards and implemented it into their states’ educational systems. Texas, however, chose to stay out of this effort and became a staunch adversary to the implementation of the standards, fearing that the Common Core was a national effort to override states’ authorities. Nevertheless, Texas should adopt the Common Core for purposes of national unity and helping a transient society, and that the end-of-the-year test is more aligned with the ACT and SAT, better developed than the TAKS, and feasible …show more content…
Because it had the freedom to opt out of the program, Texas did not adopt the CCSS (Common Core State Standards). Texas is making a mistake by choosing not to adopt such standards, for they are nationally popular. According to a map on the Common Core State Standards Website, 43 states have adopted the standards. (Common Core State Standards) This means that there must be something beneficial about the Common Core which caused states to trash old standards and revert to the new ones. If Texas takes part in the effort to implement the CCSS, it will be a landmark decision, and states will commend it, for it makes the United States more educationally united. Texas does have its own common core, the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills), though, but does not prefer to refer to the standards that way. However, Texas’s common core bears virtually no influence over other states, whereas states from the Atlantic to the Pacific have adopted the CCSS in a matter of 2-4 years. If Texas can take measures to implement the Common Core, the United States of America can be one step closer to becoming one nation under one …show more content…
According to an article titled “Myths vs. Facts” on the Common Core website, education standards from around the globe “were consulted in the development process.” (Common Core State Standards) The Common Core committee took input not only from top-performing states but also top-performing nations. This is so that the United States could help secure its position as one of the most educationally developed countries in the world if the test is implemented. On the other hand, education ministers in Texas formed the TAKS by consulting only with schools from the state of Texas. While the Common Core exam content is sufficient enough to test students in America, the way the standards are being implemented is harmful to schoolchildren. For example, according to a New York Times editorial, many teachers have started teaching to the test so that they could receive more positive evaluations, since the CCSS exam can determine whether a teacher is to be hired or fired. However, the Common Core has not released many sample questions or tests, because it anticipated that teachers would do such a thing. It is unclear, therefore, how teachers will teach their students or what additional resources they can