Jason Arndt, jarndt@wolfrivermedia.com
An opponent of the new Common Core education standards is slated to speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Bonduel High School.
Duke Pesta is an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and academic director of FreedomProject Education, which is an online school that offers a “Common Core-free education built on Judeo-Christian values.”
Pesta has made more than 100 presentations on the Common Core standards. Prior to his Bonduel visit, his most recent presentations were in Huntington Beach and San Diego, California.
Pesta said Common Core can lead to more negative outcomes due to the strain it puts on students in the classroom.
“There is no evidence it works. It is not tried and true,” Pesta said. “The kids have become guinea pigs in the classroom.”
Common Core is a set of national standards that attempt to define the knowledge and skills that students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade need to master each year to be prepared for the next grade and, ultimately, college or work.
Parents can expect students to be doing more writing and reading in all subjects, even classes such as math and physical education that do not traditionally require it.
In addition to establishing benchmark scores in mathematics and English, the Common Core State Standards include rigorous and more frequent testing.
“These standards are aligned with college and career expectations, will ensure academic consistency throughout the state and across other states that adopt them, and have been benchmarked against international standards from high-performing countries,” said Tony Evers, state superintendent of schools, when Wisconsin formally adopted the standards in 2010.
Critics, however, argue the new standards create additional costs for school districts, leave parents and local school boards out of the process, are being dictated by test companies and federal agendas, and place too great an emphasis on tests.
There also concerns that, because of the emphasis on writing in all subjects, struggling learners and English as Second Language students will fall further behind.
Wisconsin is one of the 44 states that have adopted the standards. Wisconsin is also participating in a multi-state project to develop new common standards for science.
“People will be blown away by how fast (Common Core) is moving,” said Dave Drake, director of development and outreach for FreedomProject Education.
As part of the move to Common Core, the state Department of Instruction replaced the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination with Smarter Balanced Assessment, which utilizes computer-based exams.
Drake said it could be difficult for rural schools to pay for technology upgrades required by the new computer-based tests.
“There will be schools upgrading, but we don’t know how much it could cost,” Drake said. “Our further out schools could have a tough time.”