Kentucky Teachers Show Little Progress Under Common Core

A new report has found that despite two years of Common Core state standards, teachers have recorded little, if any, progress in Kentucky.

A new report by the National Council on Teacher Quality has claimed that the state of Kentucky has failed to show considerable improvements in the two years since it implemented Common Core standards.

Elementary school teachers in the state are not even ready to begin implementing the new lessons required by Common Core, the report claims.

The report states:

“Although Kentucky has adopted the Common Core Standards, the state does not ensure that its elementary teachers candidates are adequately prepared to teach the rigorous content associated with these standards.”

With an overall grade of D+, Kentucky is ranked an unimpressive 41st in teacher quality nationwide, writes Janet Cappiello at the Associated Press.

It is thought that the state’s requirements for special education teachers – which asks only for general certification – has had a marked effect on the state’s score.

“Failure to ensure that teachers possess requisite content knowledge deprives special education students of the opportunity to reach their academic potential,” the report said.

Common Core State Standards are designed to ensure a uniform public K-12 education from state-to-state. Kentucky was one of the first states to sign up the states and the 2011-2012 school year has been one of transition for its 1,221 public schools as some of the new coursework has begun to be implemented.

However, the report has been highly critical of the early measures set out by Kentucky. Phillip Rogers, executive director of the state’s Education Professional Standards Board, said recommendations made in the report will be seriously considered.

“While we don’t agree with everything, we’re not going to just dismiss it,” he said.

Previous recommendations have led to more stringent tests for elementary teachers. These measures will be implemented next fall.

The report criticized the state’s base requirements for elementary school teachers. It said that in only expecting elementary teachers to know general physical science, earth science, biology/life science, geography and music, the teachers are not fully prepared to actually teach reading or mathematics.

It wasn’t all gloom for the state, however. It scored higher marks for the preparation of middle school and high school teachers.

“Kentucky is commended for ensuring that middle school teachers are sufficiently prepared to teach middle school-level content,” the report said.

A loophole that could allow high school social studies teachers to skirt subject-specific licensing by letting them take a general test was identified.

“… Candidates could answer many history questions, for example, incorrectly, yet still be licensed to teach history to high school students,” the report states.

Overall, the state may be slow to see results since its adoption of Common Core standards, but officials are pleased with Kentucky’s high ranking in student teaching programs.

Comments

MOMwithAbrain

January 30, 2012 at 10:36 am

WE went from NCLB which labeled the school as the “failure” to the teachers as the failure under Common Core.

Maybe it’s the Government INTRUSION into the schools and refusing that power to the parents, that is the true source of the failure??
I’m just sayin….

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Linda Brees

January 30, 2012 at 1:25 pm

For every parents who has a genuinely good idea about education, there is at least one who doesn’t want evolution taught, or wants the Civil War termed the War of Northern Aggression or believes that the JFK was killed by the CIA. At least teachers and administrators have to go through some screening process before they get their jobs. Do parents?

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- jenni
  
  January 31, 2012 at 3:58 pm
  
  With all due respect, I have no need of undergoing a screening process Linda. I AM A PARENT by the grace of God and that’s really all the screening I need. My God-given parental right to teach and direct my child through life trumps the ‘screening’ process of some liberal administrator who may or may not let my kids say the Pledge of Allegiance at school because it has the word GOD in it. Or the screening process that allows my child to be taught that Global Warming is SCIENCE and that in fact, the Earth, the great Gia should be their God. Or the screening process that tells them our Republic is actually a Democracy and proceeds to tell them how we must practice Social Justice in order to make sure all people are treated fairly. Thanks for thought, but I I’ll practice my right (and privilege) under Natural Law, to keep my kids home with me and train them up in the way they should go: so when they are old, they will not depart from it.
  
  Reply
Susan Weston

January 31, 2012 at 11:35 am

What the report actually says is that Kentucky does not require teacher candidates to take a specific number of credit hours in liberal arts subjects (science, history, art, and so on) to qualify for an elementary school teaching certificate. From that, the authors make an inference that elementary teachers will not be ready teach the common core standards. That’s a major leap, and it comes from people who have not looked closely at the professional collaborations actually happening in the Bluegrass State.

As a closer observer of Kentucky education than the authors, I will note that our teachers began studying the new standards as soon as they came out and that our districts are participating in a huge statewide capacity building effort around the standards. From that, I make the inference that, actually, Kentucky teachers at every level are making rapid progress. While they are not yet fully ready to teach our very demanding new standards, they are as ready as their peers anywhere in the nation now and energized to continue strengthening their skills and building the full capacities they will need to move many students rapidly toward our new expectations.

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