The State University of New York Board of Trustees today passed a resolution in support of the controversial Common Core teaching standards, saying the tougher tests will better prepare students for college.
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“Forty-six percent of the state’s high school graduates who attend college in New York enroll at SUNY each year, and far too many are simply not ready,” said Board Chairman H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller, in a statement. “SUNY has a vested interest in the advancement of higher standards brought on by the Common Core. The better prepared students are to take on college-level work, the more successful they will be in college and career.”
SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher has also advocated for stronger secondary education, saying half of all students at SUNY’s community colleges enroll in at least one remedial course at a cost of $70 million per year.
“The Common Core Standards raise the bar for educators and students, and in today’s competitive and increasingly global economy, anything less would be a disservice to our youth,” Zimpher said in a statement. “The Common Core will have a significant and lasting impact on student comprehension and achievement while re-positioning our state – and ultimately, our nation – as a global leader in education.”
The SUNY people are still using the Common Core boilerplate from three years ago.
Many people now see the Common Core as dumbed-down standards, specifically developed to teach students just enough to do the paperwork in the offices but not enough to question if any of it is really important.
The emphasis on rote learning, text-to-text writing (but never text-to-self because no one gives a shit what students think or feel about the text), argumentative writing replacing creative projects in every class including art and vocational classes - it's all about developing a generation of Americans who can follow orders, follow outlines and do what the bosses - and nothing else.
These SUNY people are political functionaries all dining off the same corporate-funded Common Core trough so it's not a surprise they're still parroting this jive.
The statistics stated are so weak. 46% of students who attend colleges in NYS attended SUNYs. And, 50% of the students who attend SUNY Community Colleges need remedial classes. But, Community Colleges have open enrollment so that is where students who need extra help to make it through college start out. The questions to SUNY are "Why do 50% need remedial classes? Of the 50% who require remedial classes how many are ESL students who require remedial English? How many have a learning disability? How many did not take high school seriously and are now going to a SUNY Community College for a second chance?"
ReplyDeleteIn addition, SUNY New Paltz's research questions the veracity of the claims of Common Core and whether it is worth the money. https://www.newpaltz.edu/crreo/brief_8_education.pdf It is disheartening to see the leaders of the State University of New York put politics before academia.