Maine legislators hear conflicting views on Common Core tes# Parenting - 为人父母
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www.pressherald.com/2016/01/11/maine-legislators-hear-conflicting-views-on-
common-core-tests/
By Noel K. Gallagher Staff Writer [email protected] | @noelinmaine | 207-
791-6387
AUGUSTA — In the midst of anti-testing and anti-Common Core sentiment
across the nation, the Legislature’s Education Committee heard testimony
Monday on whether Maine should drop the five-year-old Common Core math and
English standards and delay statewide testing for a year while it switches
to a new test.
Maine’s 2015 Teacher of the Year, the head of the Maine State Board of
Education, and representatives from the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and
the business-backed Educate Maine all testified against L.D. 1492, which
would eliminate the Common Core standards and have the state create a group
to come up with new standards.
“Change is hard. We know that. But change is needed to keep up with the
changes in the workplaces,” said Ben Gilman of the Maine State Chamber of
Commerce. “Stay the course. What example would we all set for Maine
students if – just when the task gets hard and some people don’t like the
outcomes – we quit?”
Supporters of the bill said the standards are confusing, represent federal
overreach into local education decisions, and, in some cases, are
developmentally inappropriate, particularly for younger children.
A similar bill to eliminate the standards failed last session.
“Today we see parents disenchanted with schools, kids not expected to
attend school, teachers burning out on the profession, communities
frustrated that their schools are losing their core values, politicians
claiming that schools are ‘dead horses,’ and education is unraveling,”
the bill’s author, Rep. Will Tuell, R-East Machias, told the Education
Committee.
Several parents said they struggled to help their children with homework,
and an elementary arts teacher said the standards particularly hurt young
children.
“The Common Core standards have forced out imaginative play, creativity,
and hands-on learning from our kindergartens and even preschools in favor of
skill and drill and other forms of rote learning,” said Robin Brooks, who
teaches in Augusta.
Several states have rejected or changed the standards. Beginning in 2009, 45
states and the District of Columbia adopted the standards, and since 2014,
Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina have dropped them. Some states have
slightly changed the standards and renamed them, removing the reference to
Common Core. Among the new names: CA Standards (California,) PA Core (
Pennsylvania) and Connecticut Core.
Acting Education Commissioner Bill Beardsley said the department was neither
for nor against the bill, but acknowledged the tension between Common Core
and Maine’s traditional standards, which are “generally briefer, broader,
less prescriptive, yet encouraging of unique Maine interests.”
“It is our preference to stabilize the teaching and learning environment in
Maine schools this year,” Beardsley said.
Several top educators praised the standards. Jennifer Dorman, the 2015 Maine
Teacher of the Year, said the standards allow for deeper, more meaningful
learning. She shared emails from several County Teachers of the Year and
Talya Edlund, the 2016 Teacher of the Year, in support of the standards.
“Yes, these standards are rigorous, and yes, these standards are different
than the ones we knew in our own schools,” Dorman said. “Parents and the
public ask ‘why?’ The answer is because we are preparing students for the
jobs of the future – some of them don’t even exist yet. … The focus is
now on teaching the process of learning, rather than teaching students a
specific skill set about a certain topic.”
The bill was also opposed by the Maine School Management Association and the
Maine Principals’ Association.
“Starting over from scratch, as this bill proposes, wastes time and effort,
with no assurance of a better outcome,” said Elaine Tomaszewski, deputy
executive director of Maine School Management Association.
The testing bill before the committee, L.D. 1459, would delay any statewide
assessment for at least one year. The Legislature voted last spring to drop
the state’s math and English tests given to students in third through
eighth grades and 11th grade – the Smarter Balanced test used by 18 states
– after one year because educators and parents said the tests were flawed
and difficult to administer and take.
In December, the state announced it would use New Hampshire-based Measured
Progress Inc. for new math and English tests to be administered this spring.
L.D. 1459 would make that test optional this year.
“The department understands the challenges caused by the testing turnaround
of the past year, yet (we) do not believe the best resolution is to stop
testing,” testified Jaci Holmes, the federal-state legislative liaison for
the Maine Department of Education. “Rather, the department commits to a
test for this year that is far less frustrating to schools and students.”
But the bill’s author, Rep. Ellie Espling, R-New Gloucester, said she
thinks the process has been rushed. “I feel that this process gives
students and teachers very little time to prepare,” she testified.
Other states, facing similar concerns or problems with Common Core-aligned
tests, have adjusted their testing schedule. California got an additional
year to assess its Common Core-aligned test, while Massachusetts is
currently considering legislation that would impose a three-year moratorium
on testing and forbid the use of test results as a graduation requirement or
in evaluating teachers, schools and districts.
Under No Child Left Behind, there were penalties for states that did not
test or had high opt-out rates, but the federal Department of Education
never imposed any of the penalties. Under the new federal education law,
known as Every Student Succeeds Act, annual standardized testing is still
required but there are no penalties and more decision making is shifted back
to the states and local districts.
Also Monday, several parents of children with epilepsy testified in favor of
a bill that would allow trained non-medical personnel to administer an
emergency medication, but multiple medical groups opposed it.
Rep. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, said he introduced L.D. 1491 because the drug
can be a life-saving intervention, but it must be administered rectally
within three minutes – too short a time to wait for 911 or a nurse who
might be out of the building. Medical personnel, including representatives
of the Maine Association of School Nurses, the Maine State Board of Nursing
and the Maine Medical Association, said they opposed the bill because the
treatment requires a level of medical expertise only a nurse or medical
specialist could provide. They also said the bill was written too broadly
and could apply to many other medical treatments.
All three bills now go to committee work sessions.
common-core-tests/
By Noel K. Gallagher Staff Writer [email protected] | @noelinmaine | 207-
791-6387
AUGUSTA — In the midst of anti-testing and anti-Common Core sentiment
across the nation, the Legislature’s Education Committee heard testimony
Monday on whether Maine should drop the five-year-old Common Core math and
English standards and delay statewide testing for a year while it switches
to a new test.
Maine’s 2015 Teacher of the Year, the head of the Maine State Board of
Education, and representatives from the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and
the business-backed Educate Maine all testified against L.D. 1492, which
would eliminate the Common Core standards and have the state create a group
to come up with new standards.
“Change is hard. We know that. But change is needed to keep up with the
changes in the workplaces,” said Ben Gilman of the Maine State Chamber of
Commerce. “Stay the course. What example would we all set for Maine
students if – just when the task gets hard and some people don’t like the
outcomes – we quit?”
Supporters of the bill said the standards are confusing, represent federal
overreach into local education decisions, and, in some cases, are
developmentally inappropriate, particularly for younger children.
A similar bill to eliminate the standards failed last session.
“Today we see parents disenchanted with schools, kids not expected to
attend school, teachers burning out on the profession, communities
frustrated that their schools are losing their core values, politicians
claiming that schools are ‘dead horses,’ and education is unraveling,”
the bill’s author, Rep. Will Tuell, R-East Machias, told the Education
Committee.
Several parents said they struggled to help their children with homework,
and an elementary arts teacher said the standards particularly hurt young
children.
“The Common Core standards have forced out imaginative play, creativity,
and hands-on learning from our kindergartens and even preschools in favor of
skill and drill and other forms of rote learning,” said Robin Brooks, who
teaches in Augusta.
Several states have rejected or changed the standards. Beginning in 2009, 45
states and the District of Columbia adopted the standards, and since 2014,
Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina have dropped them. Some states have
slightly changed the standards and renamed them, removing the reference to
Common Core. Among the new names: CA Standards (California,) PA Core (
Pennsylvania) and Connecticut Core.
Acting Education Commissioner Bill Beardsley said the department was neither
for nor against the bill, but acknowledged the tension between Common Core
and Maine’s traditional standards, which are “generally briefer, broader,
less prescriptive, yet encouraging of unique Maine interests.”
“It is our preference to stabilize the teaching and learning environment in
Maine schools this year,” Beardsley said.
Several top educators praised the standards. Jennifer Dorman, the 2015 Maine
Teacher of the Year, said the standards allow for deeper, more meaningful
learning. She shared emails from several County Teachers of the Year and
Talya Edlund, the 2016 Teacher of the Year, in support of the standards.
“Yes, these standards are rigorous, and yes, these standards are different
than the ones we knew in our own schools,” Dorman said. “Parents and the
public ask ‘why?’ The answer is because we are preparing students for the
jobs of the future – some of them don’t even exist yet. … The focus is
now on teaching the process of learning, rather than teaching students a
specific skill set about a certain topic.”
The bill was also opposed by the Maine School Management Association and the
Maine Principals’ Association.
“Starting over from scratch, as this bill proposes, wastes time and effort,
with no assurance of a better outcome,” said Elaine Tomaszewski, deputy
executive director of Maine School Management Association.
The testing bill before the committee, L.D. 1459, would delay any statewide
assessment for at least one year. The Legislature voted last spring to drop
the state’s math and English tests given to students in third through
eighth grades and 11th grade – the Smarter Balanced test used by 18 states
– after one year because educators and parents said the tests were flawed
and difficult to administer and take.
In December, the state announced it would use New Hampshire-based Measured
Progress Inc. for new math and English tests to be administered this spring.
L.D. 1459 would make that test optional this year.
“The department understands the challenges caused by the testing turnaround
of the past year, yet (we) do not believe the best resolution is to stop
testing,” testified Jaci Holmes, the federal-state legislative liaison for
the Maine Department of Education. “Rather, the department commits to a
test for this year that is far less frustrating to schools and students.”
But the bill’s author, Rep. Ellie Espling, R-New Gloucester, said she
thinks the process has been rushed. “I feel that this process gives
students and teachers very little time to prepare,” she testified.
Other states, facing similar concerns or problems with Common Core-aligned
tests, have adjusted their testing schedule. California got an additional
year to assess its Common Core-aligned test, while Massachusetts is
currently considering legislation that would impose a three-year moratorium
on testing and forbid the use of test results as a graduation requirement or
in evaluating teachers, schools and districts.
Under No Child Left Behind, there were penalties for states that did not
test or had high opt-out rates, but the federal Department of Education
never imposed any of the penalties. Under the new federal education law,
known as Every Student Succeeds Act, annual standardized testing is still
required but there are no penalties and more decision making is shifted back
to the states and local districts.
Also Monday, several parents of children with epilepsy testified in favor of
a bill that would allow trained non-medical personnel to administer an
emergency medication, but multiple medical groups opposed it.
Rep. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, said he introduced L.D. 1491 because the drug
can be a life-saving intervention, but it must be administered rectally
within three minutes – too short a time to wait for 911 or a nurse who
might be out of the building. Medical personnel, including representatives
of the Maine Association of School Nurses, the Maine State Board of Nursing
and the Maine Medical Association, said they opposed the bill because the
treatment requires a level of medical expertise only a nurse or medical
specialist could provide. They also said the bill was written too broadly
and could apply to many other medical treatments.
All three bills now go to committee work sessions.
