Category Archives: Common Core

WCPSS Enters Into “Digital Promise League”, Tied To Gates Foundation

Posted on October 9, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Wake County Schools has been accepted into the “League of Innovative Schools” via a group called “Digital Promise”. Sounds awesome right? Yeah, not so much.

Think of Common Core as a stool and one of the biggest legs is the cost of Technology. I’m not saying increased technology and bandwidth in schools is bad, it’s inevitable. I’m saying the how and who doing it stinks to high heaven.
Bear this in mind as you read on.

WCPSS PRESS RELEASE
Snippet from the WCPSS press release with emphasis added:

Digital Promise, a national, independent nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to accelerate innovation in education, recently announced that the Wake County Public School System is one of 11 new members accepted into the League of Innovative Schools, a national coalition of school district superintendents committed to innovation.

KEEP READING… THERE IS A LOT MORE. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core | Tagged , | 2 Comments

10,000 Comments: NC Overall Feedback on K-5 ELA Standards

Posted on October 8, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

At one point or another every Common Core fighter has heard this line, or a version of it, as a defense for the lack of public vetting of the standards:

Forty-six states brought together experts, teachers and researchers to write the Common Core State Standards, along with almost 10,000 comments and suggestions, including many from Oregon teachers and parents. Oregon adopted them in 2010. The standards are well-matched for our classrooms and will help our students learn more. Please visithttp://corestandards.org/the-standards to read the full set of standards.

In the last week, I’ve obtained some of these 10,000 comments – which turned out to be really 8,731 comments. I’ve begun publishing the North Carolina portion of the ‘public comments’ made to the CoreStandards.org site prior to Common Core being rolled out in 2010. Get caught up:

The Infamous “10,000” Comments On Common Core
10,000 Comments: NC Overall Feedback
I’ve just finished the next section (K-5 ELA reading) where written feedback instead of a number score could given. You can access this document and download it here.

In total, there was only one positive comment about the K-5 Reading section. Almost all speak to the age and developmental inappropriateness.

A few excerpts:

KEEP READING – SEE THE COMMENTS & EXCERPTS Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core | 1 Comment

Common Core Aligned: The Achievement Network

Posted on October 7, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

“…to create just these kinds of tests—next-generation assessments aligned to the common core. When the tests are aligned to the common standards, the curriculum will line up as well—and that will unleash powerful market forces in the service of better teaching.” – Bill Gates, 2009 Speech To Natl. Conference of State Legislatures

The goal is to align everything so that students and the money have nowhere to go but Common Core.

Last time, we explored the ‘Common Core Quest’ app. Today we’re taking a look at what the ‘data driven’ outfit The Achievement Network (Anet) does.

KEEP READING – FOLLOW THE MONEY Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core | Tagged , | 1 Comment

NC School District Sends Home Common Core Math Home To Parents

Posted on October 7, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Here in North Carolina, parent ire over Common Core math is alive and well. Clearly, staff and school officials are hearing about it since Wake County Schools in North Carolina is apparently making an effort to teach the Common Core math strategies to parents of 2nd graders.

This speaks volumes to the developmentally inappropriate nature of Common Core math that this parent instruction set is even needed for elementary level math.

In years prior, I can attest we did not receive such instructional materials from Wake County concerning Common Core. I’ve scanned and uploaded a set of parent instructions we’ve recently received to one of my document repositories.

READ MORE… Continue reading →

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Remember Gates Grantee Educause?

Posted on October 6, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Back in September, I wrote about the 2014 grants Bill Gates was handing out and the ‘automated’ and ‘personalized’ learning app companies that were getting that money.

Educause was one of them:

Educause

Date: May 2014
Purpose: to support the Next Generation Learning Challenges – Breakthrough Schools Fund
Amount: $5,100,000
Term: 20
Topic: College-Ready
Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
Program: United States
Grantee Location: Louisville, Colorado
Grantee Website: http://www.educause.edu

I’m revisiting this since I’ve also pointed out that the Common Core Academic Standards Review Commission member picked by Governor McCrory is an IBM executive.

Educause and IBM are pals — actually a team.

KEEP READING… Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Academic Standards Review Commission, Common Core | Tagged | Comments Off on Remember Gates Grantee Educause?

A Look At The #NC23 Senate Race (PT 2)

Posted on October 3, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Earlier this week, I started a look at the NC-23 Senate race between Valerie Foushee, the current appointment to the seat, and Mary Lopez-Carter, the challenger.

In the previous installment, we covered Valerie Foushee. This installment will cover Mary Lopez-Carter.

About Mary Lopez-Carter Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, ELECTIONS, NCGA, POLITICS NC, Video | Comments Off on A Look At The #NC23 Senate Race (PT 2)