![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/files\/2012\/07\/commoncore.jpg\" "\\"commoncore\\"")
<\/a>Common Core curricula are at the heart of the standardized testing approach in New York.<\/p><\/div>\n
New York schools are moving toward what\u2019s called the Common Core curriculum, which is similar to a set of national academic standards.\u00a0\u00a0 More students will be taking standardized tests \u2013 even kids as young as the second grade.\u00a0 Schools are also adopting a new teacher evaluation system.<\/p>\n
Janice Poole just retired after 33 years of teaching.\u00a0 She told me part of the problem of doing all these things at once is that schools aren\u2019t getting clear message from Albany, \u201cNew York state is not sure, and I think until that gets squared, then I think we can look and say, \u2018Okay, we know what we\u2019re all doing.\u00a0 And we\u2019re all on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long-time Canton Central librarian Nancy Palmateer told me it was too much change for her \u2013 that\u2019s why she decided to retire at the end of the 2012 academic year.<\/p>\n
Palmateer worries that a teacher\u2019s evaluation now will be tied to student test scores.\u00a0 She fears it will encourage teachers to teach to the test, instead of giving students time and space to explore the things that interest them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of people do we want them to be?\u00a0 What kind of learners do we want them to be?\u201d, she asks.<\/p>\n
Palmateer worries that the new system is more likely to encourage young people to memorize facts, and repeat them for a test.<\/p>\n