What our teachers are told about instruction beyond Common Core

An article in the Central Kentucky News-Journal about the controversy over teaching cursive writing provides insight into what some of our teachers are being told about teaching anything not explicitly in the Common Core State Standards.

Says Fourth-grade teacher Mandy Cox:

“If it's not assessed, we're not supposed to be spending class time doing it.”

Now, consider this: if it’s not in the standards, a well-known legal concept called “Fair Notice” says it can’t be on the state assessments.

Please keep this in mind as we point out deficiencies in both the Common Core State Standards for math and the Next Generation Science Standards. Both omit standards for courses usually offered during the last two years of high school that are critical for students who want to go on to more demanding four-year colleges and to enter science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. The omission of this material actually creates an inducement for schools to not teach these subjects.

Just ask Ms. Cox.