Common Core

8 Stories

Dad's Cheeky Absence Note Takes on Standardized Testing

Chicago's Jeff Jenkins said his daughter couldn't wait to get back to exams

(Newser) - A Chicago girl was sick from school on Wednesday, so her dad had to pen a note to explain her absence. And Jeff Jenkins didn't hold back in describing both why she missed class and how he feels about standardized testing, CBS Chicago reports. After noting his child had...

Dad's 'Common Core' Check to School Goes Viral

But some say he's doing more harm than good

(Newser) - Last week, a frustrated Ohio dad posted a picture on Facebook —and now it's been shared more than 27,000 times and he's semi-famous. Doug Herrmann posted a picture of a check he wrote to his kids' elementary school which, he said, used Common Core math. Instead...

Thousands Opt Out of Common Core Tests

Movement appears to be growing in parts of the country

(Newser) - Thousands of students are opting out of new standardized tests aligned to the Common Core standards, defying the latest attempt by states to improve academic performance. This "opt-out" movement remains scattered but is growing fast in some parts of the country. Some superintendents in New York are reporting that...

Parents Go to School to Grasp Kids' Math

Students learn math in a new way with Common Core

(Newser) - Think math was hard when you went to school? Then check out new Common Core standards in elementary and high schools, which are so different from "old school" methods that parents are attending school to learn how it works—alongside their children, the Washington Post reports. "The toughest...

Bobby Jindal Sues White House Over Common Core

Says education standards amount to nationalizing education

(Newser) - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is suing the Obama administration over Common Core education standards, arguing that they represent a federal effort to wrest control over education from the states, the AP reports. According to the suit filed today, the White House has "effectively force[d] states down a path toward...

Oklahoma Ditches Common Core Education Standards
Oklahoma Ditches
Common Core
Jun 6, 2014 2:52 AM CDT

Oklahoma Ditches Common Core

Governor says education standards 'tainted' by federal overreach

(Newser) - Oklahoma can come up with better academic standards than the "tainted" federal Common Core, Gov. Mary Fallin said yesterday as she signed legislation repealing the standards. The governor—who was still defending the standards as recently as January—said federal overreach and meddling had become too much, Politico reports....

We're Making a Mistake by Losing Cursive Writing

Essayist explains how it helped her autistic son

(Newser) - Necessary skill or relic of a bygone era? The debate on the merits of cursive writing is in full swing now that the new Common Core academic standards are about to kick in around most of the nation. Common Core doesn't mandate that schools teach cursive, and Polly Morrice...

Politician: Ban Toni Morrison Novel From Schools

The Bluest Eye becomes flashpoint in Common Core debate

(Newser) - Horrified by its depictions of child molestation and incest, Alabama state Sen. Bill Holtzclaw is calling for Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye to be struck from all high school reading lists in the state. "The book is just completely objectionable, from language to content," Holtzclaw tells the...

8 Stories