{"id":18702,"date":"2014-08-06T02:01:31","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T06:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=18702"},"modified":"2015-05-25T15:10:52","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T19:10:52","slug":"common-core-advocates-push-for-curriculums-use-in-college-admissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/common-core-advocates-push-for-curriculums-use-in-college-admissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Core Advocates Push for Curriculum\u2019s Use in College Admissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even as several state leaders\u00a0repeal<\/a>\u00a0their acceptance of the controversial \u201cCommon Core\u201d federal standards for K-12 schools, the curriculum’s proponents are pushing for it to be used in college admissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t want this effort to stop at the college door,\u201d Lindsey Tepe, an education policy program associate at the New America Foundation,\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Real Clear Policy,<\/em>\u00a0adding\u00a0that the Common Core standards were \u201cdeveloped with the idea that they are college- and career-readiness standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf states have made a commitment to college- and career-readiness standards and assessments,\u201d Tepe said, \u201cit seems very silly that they would not also then say that if you meet your state’s standard, that should then qualify as a minimum admissions standard to the lowest tier of four-year universities in that state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tepe speaks on behalf of the New America Foundation,\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cone of the most prosperous and influential think tanks in Barack Obama\u2019s Washington,\u201d with\u00a0financial backers<\/a>\u00a0that include the Soros family and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In recent months, Bill Gates has been increasingly\u00a0credited<\/a>\u00a0with spearheading Common Core\u2019s creation and implementation.<\/p>\n

But while big names back the push for these embattled federal standards, not everyone\u2019s convinced Common Core assessments should be used for college admissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe central problem with using Common Core as the standard for immediate, non-remedial entrance into all colleges is that it is a low standard fit, not for all college admissions, but for two-year community colleges,\u201d Joy Pullmann<\/a>, a research fellow at the Heartland Institute and managing editor of\u00a0School Reform News<\/em>, told\u00a0The College Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Pullman said Common Core would grant automatic college acceptance to any high school graduate if its standards were used in college admissions, thus forcing competitive colleges and universities to \u201creduce their admissions standards, because Common Core standards are far below what competitive colleges have in the past required.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goodbye ACT\/SAT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among Tepe\u2019s recommendations, she suggests Common Core assessments might eliminate the need for ACT and SAT college-entrance exams.<\/p>\n

If a state has adopted the Common Core standards and a student in that state is scoring \u201ccollege-ready\u201d in accordance with these standards, \u201cit does not make sense for a student to have to both pass college-ready (Common Core standards) as well as college-ready on ACT or SAT in order to gain minimum admission to a university,\u201d Tepe argues.<\/p>\n

While she stops short of saying the ACT or SAT should be axed, the comments come as Common Core assessments are expected to be rolled out this school year,\u00a0according<\/a>\u00a0to the official Common Core government website.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Two consortia) \u2026 are currently working to develop assessments that aim to provide meaningful feedback to ensure that students are progressing toward attaining the necessary skills to succeed in college, career, and life,\u201d the website states. \u201cThese assessments are expected to be available in the 2014-2015 school year. Most states have chosen to participate in one of the two consortia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not Everyone\u2019s Convinced<\/strong><\/p>\n

But Pullmann said neither choice is a good one.<\/p>\n

Colleges and universities will \u201cfurther water down the quality of their curriculum, require students to spend more time in college, or both,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cWhatever they choose, it\u2019s students and society who end up further cheated by our mediocre-quality American education system,\u201d she\u00a0added.<\/p>\n

Pullmann said she disapproves of how almost every state university has signed assurances that they would admit Common Core graduates \u2013 \u201ceven though \u2026 Common Core does not send students through calculus, which is the bare minimum in math a high school student must take to be truly ready for a four-year STEM major.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pullmann said she believes math and science professors will not approve of being forced to work with \u201ceven less-prepared high school graduates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pullmann also argued that graduation from high school should not result in a one-way ticket to college. Historically, she said, students must demonstrate high academic performance beyond just a high school diploma to get into college.<\/p>\n

College has traditionally been for the \u201cnerdy types,\u201d Pullmann said \u2013 \u201cnot previously regarded as a seamless part of one\u2019s basic academics, something everyone should do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pullmann even goes as far as to suggest Common Core advocates such as Tepe essentially mislead people regarding the common core college-entrance topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who promote Common Core use the word \u2018college\u2019 to mean any college,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are many, many colleges in this country where anyone who breathes can get in and get taxpayer funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

After speaking with a community college professor, Pullmann said she learned that the average student is \u201cbarely literate\u201d and \u201ccan barely do multiplication.\u201d\u00a0\"College<\/a><\/p>\n

She said it is unfair to require both types of institutions \u2013 community colleges and four-year universities \u2013 to use the same entrance requirements and admissions standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I understand it, there will be no independent review of these tests, so it will be very difficult to independently judge whether these famous-before-they’re-born tests actually live up to all the pre-release hype,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Higher Ed Federal Oversight<\/strong><\/p>\n

But in her interview with Real Clear Policy<\/em>, Tepe\u00a0contends<\/a> that higher education today is not seeing the same level of scrutiny at the federal or state level, and that students who will have gone through K-12 schooling under Common Core standards should be evaluated during their time at a college or university.<\/p>\n

Tepe says this will \u201cput more accountability for outcomes in institutions of higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, she seeks a more comprehensive and one-size-fits-all evaluation of K-12 education in the U.S. In addition, she decried the fact that different states can set their own bars for proficiency at any level they desire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith these tests, you had all these states saying, \u2018Our students are proficient; our students are doing really well.\u2019 Yet, when they took a national assessment \u2026 you were suddenly seeing that those state tests were not measuring students very well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Since many students move to different towns and states throughout their K-12 education, she said this creates a problem when students are receiving \u201cdifferent messages about their proficiency,\u201d which can become problematic when they reach\u00a0college.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly they realize they don\u2019t have the same skills as the people they\u2019re working with,\u201d Tepe said, contending that many are not receiving the best information regarding their level of preparedness.<\/p>\n

She compared this to international students taking the ACT or SAT when they seek to come to the U.S. for college, saying \u201cinstitutions want to know based on their test, based on those tools, how students compare to the population that\u2019s already there.\u201d<\/p>\n

College Fix contributor Andrew Desiderio is a student at The George Washington University.<\/em><\/p>\n

Like The College Fix<\/em> on Facebook<\/a> \/ Follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGES: Main: U.S. Govt; Inside;\u00a0Common Core internet screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

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