The Common Core

Many understand by now that our public education system is in dire need of a serious kick in the pants. The problem though is that it’s not clearly understood exactly what it is that needs to be changed to improve a system that really isn’t working the way it should. For many, the issue is the fact that many students aren’t prepared for college by the time they finish high school, which is true, but what is being done to fix this?

In 2010, an educational standard for teaching K-12 had been created called the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS). Since then, 45 states have adopted these standards and it won’t be long before they’re implemented into the schooling curriculum. These standards create a clear outline for teachers in both English/Language Arts and Mathematics. The purpose of the Common Core curriculum is also to help parents and students understand what is expected at each grade level. This benchmark system, if successful, should make the transition from each grade level much easier and help push students along to college.

While a great idea overall, what is this curriculum forgetting? With students entering into the work force, many employers are looking for certain skill sets that fall outside the boundaries of academics. One thing that the Common Core doesn’t change is that while schools already do a good job at pressuring students into going to college (or else, they’ll fail at life), it does nothing to prepare students for their career. Again, our public institutions give little direction as to where students should focus their skills and talents and instead only push harder to get students into college with hardly any advice as to what to do afterwards. Now I’m not saying that the Common Core  is a bad idea- in fact, I think it’s a great step forward- but I still believe that the system has its focus in the wrong direction.