Herbert's 'big change' over Common Core puzzling

Herbert's 'big change' over Common Core puzzling

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SALT LAKE CITY — In his call to eliminate the use of the Common Core State Standards and SAGE testing in Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert this week said continuing controversy over the standards isn't helping Utah students.

Education leaders agree.

But many are puzzled at what seems to be new opposition to the standards and the test from Herbert after he historically upheld them and commissioned studies that found the standards to be favorable.

That opposition was made public just hours after his Republican challenger, Jonathan Johnson, made similar criticisms Wednesday. A spokesman for Herbert said the announcement wasn't made in response to Johnson's comments, but said Herbert had been consulting with education leaders over the past week.

What's clear is that Utah's use of the Common Core and SAGE testing have become key issues in Utah's gubernatorial election.

"It does seem to be a big change for the governor. That, I think, is all about having a primary challenger," said Chris Karpowitz, associate professor of political science at BYU and co-director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy.

Karpowitz said the move could open the governor up to accusations of "flip-flopping" or "privileging political considerations above strong policy decisions."

"It is a move that is, in some ways, surprising given his previous positions on this issue," he said.

What remains to be seen is a definitive alternative to SAGE and the Utah Core standards that the two candidates would prefer.

"Ultimately, that would be the prerogative of the State Board of Education," said Herbert's spokesman, Jon Cox. "The first thing to make sure we get correct is we are assured this is a Utah process, that Utahns are absolutely assured that their voices are going to be heard."

Johnson agreed that the public should play a central role in developing academic standards, but said those standards should be created by the schools themselves.

"There are lots of standards out there that local school districts could use as a starting point," Johnson said. "Whatever the (schools) decide should be approved by the State School Board."

Some see the governor's indictment of the Common Core as long overdue.

"I'm glad that he has come out and acknowledged that there are some legitimate concerns finally, after six years of us trying to tell him there were some issues," said Oak Norton, a member of the parent-led coalition Utahns Against Common Core.

What is Common Core?

The Common Core State Standards are a set of academic benchmarks in English and math that describe what students are expected to master in each grade level.

The standards were developed by a state-led consortium of national education leaders, including the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The standards were not developed by the federal government.

Utah adopted a new set of standards in 2010 called the Utah Core, which was based on the Common Core State Standards. An investigation by the Utah Attorney General's Office — commissioned by Herbert — found that Utah did not receive federal funding, nor did it cede control of its education system to the federal government through the adoption of those standards.

But federal overreach was felt in Utah's education system through the process of obtaining a waiver from portions of No Child Left Behind in recent years.

A committee of local education experts, also commissioned by Herbert, found that the Common Core State Standards are more rigorous than previous standards, are based on sound research and will sufficiently prepare students for college, given proper implementation.

The Utah State Board of Education has exercised its authority to modify the Utah Core several times since 2010, including new math standards for elementary and secondary students. Local school boards also maintain control of the curriculum used in their classrooms.

Controversy over Utah's use of the Common Core State Standards has stemmed from several concerns, such as insufficient teacher preparation prior to implementation, insufficient curriculum aligned to the new standards, inadequate public input in the adoption process, and questions of federal overreach.

Karpowitz said the core has become a political platform for elected officials across the country. But proposed alternatives are often few and far between.

"Part of the challenge here is just the label 'Common Core' has now become so politicized, and especially so on the right of the political spectrum, that public officials run away from that label," he said.

SAGE

In a letter to the State School Board, Herbert noted "a great deal of misinformation" being disseminated about the core standards, as well as "legitimate concerns" from those opposed to them.

The student assessment of growth and excellence, or SAGE, has taken extensive criticism from those opposed to the Common Core. SAGE was first implemented in 2014 as a tool to test students in English, math and science through the lens of the Utah Core, which raised the bar for student performance.

But technical problems and the test's computer-adaptive format have made some question how well it is working for students and teachers.

"To me, SAGE testing is very inappropriate, particularly for young children. You get a question right, and you're asked a harder question," Norton said. "Parents can't see the test questions; they don't know what their kids are being asked."

Herbert also cited concerns with the test and asked that its mandatory status be eliminated for high schools.

"While technology and assessment can help complement the important work of our teachers, I worry that we are spending too much of our time testing," Herbert said in his letter to the State School Board. "I believe that our teachers need more freedom to be creative in the classroom in order to maximize the time students spend learning, not the time they spend taking tests."

Johnson has also expressed disapproval with SAGE, though using standardized tests, even computer-adaptive tests, may be appropriate in some areas.

The fact that state law prohibits SAGE from being tied to student grades, as well as teacher evaluations thanks to recent legislation, makes the test's results and usefulness questionable, Johnson said.

"What I don't like are tests that don't factor into grades and that parents can't see what data's being collected and where that data's going," he said.

Moving forward

Two years ago, Herbert requested that the Utah Attorney General's Office determine whether the state was coerced or incentivized into adopting using the Common Core State Standards as the basis of the Utah Core. That study, along with a companion study of the academic qualities of the Common Core, were intended to settle the debate "once and for all," Herbert said.

The studies found that Utah continues to hold and exercise the authority to set its own standards and that the Common Core is more rigorous and suitable to today's classrooms than the previous standards.

But the debate continues.

"The issue hasn't gone away. In fact, the conflict has only intensified over time," Cox said. "So from the governor's perspective, he just believes that the conflict and divisiveness is not helping our students."

David Crandall, chairman of the State School Board, said education leaders welcome Herbert's feedback on Utah's academic challenges and look forward to working with legislators on possible solutions.

But much of that process is ongoing already, Crandall said, as the board has adjusted its standards several times since the Common Core was adopted in 2010. New math standards for elementary students, for example, were adopted last month.

Local school districts also have the ability to determine what curriculum to use that works best for their students while adhering to the standards. In the Davis School District, teachers have created their own curriculum for elementary math that uses technology in place of textbooks.

"One of the big things that has come to light with Common Core is the distinction that we've tried to maintain between standards and curriculum. That hasn't always been the case," Crandall said. "We've tried to make that distinction and maybe haven't done that well enough."

Crandall said education leaders are open to working with the governor and legislators on possibly making SAGE optional for high schools, which are tested differently than other schools.

"That's something the board realizes is a concern, and we'll be taking a closer look at that," he said.

And with the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaces No Child Left Behind, state educators are optimistic for an opportunity to "reset and redefine" the state's relationship with the federal government when it comes to education, Crandall said.

"We have much more flexibility than we have (had) in the past, and we want to make sure we are maintaining that flexibility," he said. "In ESSA, it's very clear that adoption of standards and the development of standards is up to the individual states, as it should be."

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