As prospective presidential candidates crisscross the influential state to gain early support for their campaigns, Iowa’s leaders are focusing on a more local issue: educating the next generation of Iowans.
Following the lead of other states wary of the federal education standards known as Common Core, Gov. Terry Branstad announced this week that his state will no longer be bound by the program’s mandates. Specifically, Iowa opted out of its affiliation with a group tasked with assessing compliance with the standards and the progress of students
According to a spokesperson, Branstad confirmed his intention in a letter he sent to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium last week. In its place, the Associated Press reports that state education leaders have formed a task force designed to handle the state’s specific needs.
Nevertheless, a program known as Iowa Core has already taken many of the standards included in the federal program to use in the statewide plan.
The program, initially sold as a way to allow governors to take charge of the education standards in their respective states, has since been criticized by concerned parents, teachers, and elected leaders who feel the resulting plan gives far too much authority to the federal government.
Not only have lessons in the program been cited as inaccurate and biased against conservative principles; a shift in basic teaching methods has resulted in the imposition of additional steps that students find convoluted and confusing.
An overwhelming number of states adopted the program shortly after its inception, welcoming the federal funding and expecting Common Core to deliver on the promises its proponents made.
As public perception waned, however, a number of states – Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and now Iowa – have taken the decisive step of severing ties with the federal standards.
Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/iowa-becomes-latest-state-opt-common-core-program/#QkmJo7dOYmXTrDfc.99
No comments:
Post a Comment