Fears over Common Core were unfounded, officials say

Local education officials say three years after Common Core State Standards took effect, most of the fears they initially sparked appear to be unfounded.

Mercer County Educational Service Center Superintendent Shelly Vaughn outlined four misconceptions that came about when Common Core first hit the state: that they would take away local control, lead to mediocrity, strip school boards of authority and be too liberal without relevance to modern careers.

"As far as the standards and the curriculum go, all of the fears have been unfounded, truthfully," Vaughn said. "The biggest misconception is that people call it the Common Core curriculum. It's not curriculum. It's a set of standards, it's the road map. The car you drive, the gas you use, the route you take - all of those things are in your control."

Because the standards were a guide, not the curriculum, they didn't mandate specific books, worksheets, websites and other resources teachers use to instruct their students.

"That's impossible," Vaughn said. "Districts continue to have complete autonomy in the curriculums they choose."

Some locals also feared that the federal government was attempting to exert control over local education. However, the standards were not created by the federal government but rather governors and educators from states around the country, including Ohio.

The fear that the standards would lead to mediocrity was also misplaced, Vaughn said.

"They thought, 'OK, if we're leveling the playing field for all kids, then we're not going to challenge all kids," she said. "Which is another completely unfounded perception."

She added that as long as teachers focus on depth of knowledge, standards can't lead to mediocrity.

The standards also did not end up stripping school boards and teachers of authority over their own classrooms

"That can never happen," Vaughn said. "The teachers have a lot of autonomy in the classroom to use the resources around them to plan instruction, how they teach."

As to the fear that the standards would be too liberal or too soft, Vaughn said they have been modified so much that they are not the same, original standards. The standards were intentionally kept broad so states could tailor them to their own needs. And they have, Vaughn said.

"The Ohio Department of Education, like they have with every set of standards they've ever worked with since the inception of statewide standards, they go through a review process," she said. "It was a very thorough revision process that included Ohio teachers."

The process includes feedback from Ohio teachers, parents and community members. On Friday, the ODE opened a survey for public comment on proposed revisions to Ohio's Learning Standards in English language arts and mathematics. The survey can be accessed until 5 p.m. Aug. 1 at education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohios-Learning-Standards/Ohio-s-Learning-Standards-Revision.

The Fort Recovery Local Schools District was a strong local pocket of anti-Common Core sentiment at the onset. However, superintendent Justin Firks said he did not have any complaints during the last school year.

"My experience here at Fort Recovery this year has been extremely positive in regards to our curriculum development," he said. "I oftentimes tell people that Common Core is kind of a framework for what needs to be taught, but the way in which we teach it is definitely left to local control in terms of textbooks, resources and tools we use. ... Our teachers have a lot of freedom in day-to-day lesson plans."

He added that in 2014-2015, the district had 120 students opt out of PARCC assessments, a test developed based on Common Core standards, due to over-testing concerns. The state has since switched to AIR testing. Last year, only 10 students opted out, Firks reported.

Vaughn said the state will have even more freedom to craft their student assessment and teacher evaluation systems in the coming years thanks to the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed by President Barack Obama in December. The act, which has bi-partisan support, in part outlines minimum requirements in those areas.

ESSA was created in response to President George W. Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' act, which Vaughn said had sparked promises of rewrites and reform for years.

"No Child Left Behind was President Bush's attempt to sort of get states on the same page in terms of education and to have some guidance for the federal dollars that were being used in the school districts, and how states chose to use those federal dollars," she said.

She stressed that ESSA is not an attempt on the part of the federal government to seize control of education at a local and state level. The opposite is true, she said.

"This gives back local control. ESSA is a bill that takes away a lot of the constraints that No Child Left Behind put on states. No Child Left Behind was pretty prescriptive," Vaughn said. "(ESSA) gives states a lot of autonomy to create systems that work for the states. It's actually the federal government pulling away. It's a lot more broad and general than No Child Left Behind language."

Because Ohio has Common Core standards in place (now known as Ohio Learning Standards), districts and teachers won't notice a change during the 2016-2017 school year, which has been designated as a transition year, Vaughn said. However, it gives the state time to look at systems that determine both student and teacher achievement.

ESSA outlines a testing minimum of once per year, which Vaughn said allows for more time for instruction. The AIR test is a once-a-year test, she said.

"It was good. Keep it as it is," she said.

The transition year is also a good time to look at changing the accountability system. ESSA minimum requirements allow state officials to get rid of a lot of assessment tools that currently measure things that "nobody uses," Vaughn said.

"ESSA is a golden opportunity to change the accountability system in the state of Ohio. Right now, it's as complex as any other state and more complex than most. It doesn't need to be that complicated," she said. "And legislators hear that message loud and clear, as do ODE officials. But it's whether or not they can come to some consensus of what it looks like."

She encouraged parents and community members to contact their legislators about taking a closer look at student evaluation and teacher assessment standards.

"I would say to parents, you need to talk to legislators and encourage them that we do the federal minimum. Because right now, our state laws are designed so that we assess kids a whole lot more," she said. "We're over-testing kids. What's the point of gathering data just for the sake of gathering data? ... And our laws are very, very prescriptive when it comes to school accountability systems."