Tag Archives: June Atkinson

Parents, Beware Of Misleading Statistics

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The statistics and information in this article have been taken from the State of North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Website.

Since Common Core was introduced in North Carolina, people with a vested interest in its success have been reporting statistics to justify its existence. Some of these statistics look really good; but when you analyze the data, you find that things are not what they appear to be. In other words, the acceptable standard has been altered to make the results appear better than they actually are. (See chart below.)

aaaaDpiInfoaaaaDpiInfo2As you can see, Level 3 now includes what was previously the top half of Level 2. In October 2013, the State Board of Education adopted four academic achievement levels. In March of 2014, an additional achievement level was added, for a total of five levels. The current five levels are:

Level 1  Limited Command

Level 2  Partial Command

Level 3  Sufficient Command (State Proficiency Standard)

Level 4  Solid Command (College and Career Readiness)

Level 5 Superior Command (College and Career Readiness)

What was previously the top half of ‘partial command’ has been moved to ‘sufficient command.’

The new standards have not raised the educational achievement of North Carolina students. The reporting has not accurately reflected the impact Common Core has had on our students–they are not doing better–the method of reporting test scores has simply been altered to make it appear as if Common Core is providing a higher level of college and career readiness. As you can see from the charts above, that is not the case. The numbers have been changed to protect the politically connected.

Common Core In North Carolina

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The Fayetteville Observer posted an article on Wednesday written by North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest about the current status of Common Core in North Carolina. Lt. Governor Forest is an opponent of Common Core and has fought the program for the two years he has been in office. Common Core was brought into North Carolina schools before Lt. Governor Forest was elected.

Lt. Governor Forest explains the current situation:

Recently, a bill passed and was signed into law that removed Common Core from the general statutes. There is no longer a legal requirement for Common Core in our state schools. However, those of us against Common Core cannot yet claim victory. Though Common Core has been repealed, it is still the standard in use in our public schools.

But one thing is absolutely sure: The line of authority and responsibility is now clearly delineated with the State Board of Education.

The same bill repealing Common Core also set up an Academic Standards and Review Commission of 11 members, one appointed by the governor, two appointed by the State Board of Education, four appointed by the House, and four appointed by the Senate.

These individuals are tasked with going through the existing Common Core Standards line by line. They will make recommendations on which standards should be kept, which should be fixed, and which should be thrown out.

Is this a good thing? Yes.

Is it as far as it could have gone in repealing Common Core? No.

The bill that repealed Common Core also set up an Academic Standards and Review Commission of 11 members. The Commission will be going through the Common Core Standards line by line to determine which are worth keeping and which need to be thrown out.

The article outlines what parents and grandparents who are opposed to Common Core can do:

Get involved

It is important to know that every North Carolina resident is represented by six members of the State Board of Education (two elected officials, three at-large members and one district representative).

The members of the state school board are William Cobey, chairman and member at large; A.L. Collins, vice chairman, from the 5th Education District; Dan Forest, lieutenant governor; Janet Cowell, state treasurer; Rebecca Taylor, 1st Education District; Reginald Kenan, 2nd Education District; Kevin Howell, 3rd Education District; Dr. Olivia Holmes Oxendine, 4th Education District; John Tate, 6th Education District; Gregory Alcorn, 7th Education District; Wayne McDevitt, 8th Education District; Marcella Savage, member at large; Patricia Willoughby, member at large; and Dr. June Atkinson, state superintendent of public instruction, chief administrative officer and secretary.

All meetings of the Academic Standards and Review Commission are required by law to be public. Likewise, meetings of the State Board of Education are also open to the public.

I encourage those of you opposed to Common Core to communicate with the members of the review commission and the State Board of Education through email, phone calls or mail, or face-to-face. Express to them your desire that they exercise the authority given to them to repeal Common Core with the best standards in the world, made specifically for the children in North Carolina.

The battle is not over. In many ways, it is just beginning.

We all need to be aware of what our children are learning in school and whether or not the things they are being exposed to are age-appropriate.

A Very Interesting Afternoon

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Yesterday afternoon I was privileged to attend a meeting between North Carolina Department of Public Instruction State Superintendent, Dr. June Atkinson, Karyn Dickerson, the North Carolina Teacher of the Year, Jen Currin, the North Carolina Virtual Teacher of the Year, and some of the leadership of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss concerns about the Common Core standards for education that are coming to North Carolina. The meeting was very cordial, and both sides of the discussion were genuinely interested in providing the best possible education for children and young adults in the North Carolina schools.

There was, however, some very basic disagreement on the value of the Common Core standards and curriculum. One example of inaccurate teaching of history was found in Prentice Hall’s The American Experience, a textbook which has been aligned to the Common Core.

Townhall.com posted a story about this textbook, citing the chapter in the book about World War II:

There is no reading in this chapter ostensibly devoted to World War II that tells why America entered the war. There is no document on Pearl Harbor or the Rape of Nanking or the atrocities committed against the Jews or the bombing of Britain. The book contains no speech of Winston Churchill or F.D.R. even though the reading of high-caliber “informational texts” is the new priority set by the Common Core, and great rhetoric has always been the province of an English class. There is not a single account of a battle or of American losses or of the liberation of Europe.

As the daughter of an Army veteran who landed on Utah Beach on D-Day, I am offended by this. As an American, I am offended by this.

I admire Dr. Atkinson’s desire to bring quality education to the children of North Carolina. I just feel that she has not examined the Common Core curriculum closely enough to realize that the Common Core curriculum will not give her the quality education for the students in North Carolina that she desires.

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