Common Core Tests
How are children are being “Dumbed down”
By Jessica Chiong
Recently I requested through an FOI
(Freedom of Information Act) to have access to see my Children’s “Secured”
tests that are not sent home and are adopted through the CC Standards. A couple
days ago I was able to see two of my three children tests. I have a
kindergarten, first grade and second grade children. The tests I saw were
Kindergarten and First grade. I will start with Kindergarten.
In Kindergarten in just homework
alone, I have seen her come home with adding and subtracting, reading and
writing, shapes and comprehension. I am fortunate that my daughter is a quick
learner and has had no problems with homework in fact she is ahead of most
students. But 75% of her classroom is not so lucky and some of them did not
know how to use a pencil, speak English among other things. In the
Comprehension tests (with prompting and support) she had to Identify
characters, settings, and major events of the story.
In one of the tests for Math, they
score on a point level. One point if you get half of the question correct. Two
points if answered correctly in full. I noticed in her tests that she did not
“comply fully” and only received one point. For example the teacher would read
aloud to her 2+4=? In this test she had to use a space allotted to draw two
cookies, and then draw four more cookies to come up with the answer and then
write the equation down after with the answer. My daughter already new what 2+4
was and did not draw the “cookies” and simply wrote out the math sentence and
answered six. So because she did not draw the cookies she only received one
point and did not pass that question in its entirety. (dumbing down)
Next she was asked to write in number
sequence starting 10-20. She was able to do it in the correct order but because
her number 7 and number 9 was written in backwards for 17 & 19 she got it
wrong. (dumbing down)
On the over all sheet that shows where she was “Core
standards” or not “Core standards” they let me take this paper home where it
was not an actual test. It is broken
down as a graph from Beginning of the year, middle of the year, and the end of
the year. Here is the break down of this graph:
·
TRC (comprehension)
·
FSF (this was not broken down for me)
·
LNF (Letter Naming)
·
PSF (word sounding out)
·
NWF (Nonsense Words)
·
TRC (reading) Beginning of year was fiction, Middle of year was
Non-Fiction, and End of year is Fiction
All of these tests are done on a one-minute time allotment.
The ONLY thing she did not do well in was Nonsense words to sound out like “BIF”.
Here we see the dumbing down of making our children read nonsense words and get
tested on them. Also for them to realize in Kindergarten the difference between
Fiction and Non Fiction books is to me the rigorous part of testing (She was
not “Core” in Fiction, but was on “Core” with NON fiction). Each time there is
a unit to be taught. There is a Pre-Test, The Actual Test, and then the
Post-test. The only test recorded and graded on is the Actual test. I noticed
on the tests they were not called Quiz, or test but they are now using the term
“Dipstick”
Our school has adopted Common Core
standards in their curriculum and are using codes like:
·
CCKRF.1.D
·
CCKRF.3.A
·
CCKRF.2.A
·
CCKRF.3
Now onto First Grade, here
it was I discovered that I found very alarming and I will discuss it before I
go on too what I saw for his tests. The way First Grade is tested is they start
at a “Kindergarten level” with homework and testing. Once they have “Mastered”
those they then move up to the First grade level. What I saw is that even at
the end of the year he has only “mastered” a few out of the “Kindergarten” and
has not technically moved up to First grade levels, because he has to “Master”
all Kindergarten levels first, so here we are at the end of the year. And my
child is technically onto a “Kindergarten” level and will be moving onto Second
grade. (Dumbing Down)
Let’s start with Symphony
Math, which is what our school uses. And example of the kindergarten level math
is this:
·
26+22= (but they are 26 on top and 22 on bottom)
He did not pass this test. Next was a question
showing an Ice Cream Cone asking what shapes in the Ice Cream Cone make 3D
shapes, this he did Pass.
For Reading, he was read a story, in
which he had to answer several questions about the story. For the most part the
were easy, except for this one question:
·
What is the root word of climbs? (He did not get this right)
·
Is this story Fiction or Non-Fiction, or a Poem? (He did not get this
right)
Everything
else I saw was basically the same thing my kindergarten student is doing
including the Nonsense words, but their lists on the yearly report differ. They
still show if you are at “Core Goals” or “Strategic” (meaning not core) and of
course the part of the testing that is bringing his grades down are the
“Nonsense words”
Here is what his report graph states with codes:
·
TRC (actual grade or they use “letters” like PC=Far Below, RB=below,
C=below, E=Far below, J=Proficient
·
LNF (letter naming)
·
PSF
·
NWF (Nonsense words)
·
DORF (reading levels)
Again same thing with the testing for First grade,
there is a Pre-Test, Actual test, and a Post-Test. The Actual test is what they
are graded on.
So in my opinion the dumbing down is clearly shown
in some tests but the fact that my First grader is actually learning on what
they call a Kindergarten level is what I find most upsetting. I printed out
from my local School Board Website what they list and break down for
curriculum. I will post the link on here. But I suggest to better “understand”
your school’s curriculum is to go on your school website and take a look
around:
Any questions please feel free to email me at lukychrm77@yahoo.com or visit my two Common Core sites on Facebook
Thank you and I hope this will be helpful. Please
remember your rights as a parent and contact your local school board and
request to see your children’s tests. If you have to use an FOI (Freedom of
Information Act) they have the tests in the school locked away. They can’t deny
you your rights to see the tests. They just will not allow you to take copies
because they are “secured” tests.
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