Common Core Standards: What do you know? Directions: Read each statement carefully.

Identify whether the statement has validity via a True or False response. _____Adopting common standards will bring all states standards down to the lowest common denominator, which means states with high standards, such as Massachusetts, will be taking a step backwards if they adopt the Standards. _____The Standards are not internationally benchmarked. _____The Standards only include skills and do not address the importance of content knowledge. _____The Standards suggest teaching Grapes of Wrath to second graders. _____The Standards are just vague descriptions of skills; they dont include a reading list or any other similar reference to content. _____English teachers will be asked to teach science and social studies reading materials. _____The Standards dont have enough emphasis on fiction/literature. _____The Standards do not prepare or require students to learn Algebra in the 8th grade, as many states current standards do. _____Key math topics are missing or appear in the wrong grade. _____The standards are just vague descriptions of skills; they don't include a reading list or any other similar reference to content. _____No teachers were involved in writing the Standards. _____The Standards are not research or evidence based. _____The Standards tell teachers what to teach. _____The Standards will be implemented through No Child Left Behind (NCLB) - signifying that the federal government will be leading them. _____These Standards amount to a national curriculum for our schools. _____The federal government will take over ownership of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. (More on back)

_____Common Core is an effort of the federal government to nationalize education and force states to teach all students the same way. _____States may NOT adjust the new Common Core State Standards to meet their state-level needs. _____Common Core standards represent a national curriculum and implementing 100% of Common Core means that the standards tell teachers precisely how they must teach. _____Referring to the Common Core as national standards is the most accurate way to describe them. _____Taxpayers will end up paying more for technology and curriculum updates under Common Core than they would have had to under the West Virginia Standards. _____Under the Common Core State Standards, students may graduate from high school reading at a 7th grade level. _____Under the Common Core, college readiness means preparation for a selective twoyear college, not a university. _____Seventy percent of the texts read in ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ARTS classes must be information-text in12th grade, which prevents students from learning culture through high quality literature.