Confession of an English Teacher an Analysis of Common Core Standards.

Confession of an English Teacher an Analysis of Common Core Standards

hat are the Common Core Standards, and why haven’t they improved our students' language and math skills in America? My book answers these questions for parents and English teachers who suffer under the yoke (or should I say joke) of teaching the Common Core Standards. I analyze each standard to show how ridiculous some of them are and point out which ones benefit our children's education. I argue that a federal, top-down approach to education is not the solution to America's educational crisis. After 37 years of teaching English at six secondary schools and six community colleges, I have learned what needs to change in our approach to teaching English. I argue that the goal of teaching English should be exclusively to improve students' literacy, and whatever means the English teacher can use to affect that outcome is needed in our schools. I argue that states, not the federal government, should control educational standards. The only goal of student education should be to advance literacy, and we can measure that growth more easily than by subjecting students to standardized tests that do not measure linguistic growth. I hope readers of this book will better understand how the Common Core Standards have not successfully advanced our students' literacy or mathematical skills.