This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A pamphlet titled "Common Core: Nationalized Education" is being circulated throughout Utah by Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka and others. This pamphlet contains numerous gross exaggerations with no basis in facts. Unfortunately, she and the pamphlet's authors have entirely misrepresented how Utah's Core Curriculum Standards are developed, reviewed, field-tested, then approved, based on reactions and experience of Utah's parents and school teachers.
I was a member of the writing team that developed the current Utah Science Core Curriculum. Scientists and public school teachers from all over Utah were assembled to write the first draft of the Science Core. Utah's Science Core Curriculum is based on the National Science Education Standards, published by the National Academies Press in 1996. The Utah Science Core was written by Utah teachers and it reflects Utah's uniqueness throughout.
For example, the Social Studies Core for the 4th grade focuses on the history of Utah. To align the 4th grade Science Standards with the Social Studies Core, Utah plants and animals are a focus of the 4th grade Science Core. There are many other examples. The existing Science Core is a Utah product. The Science Core, and other curricula cores, are revised about every 10 years by Utah teachers. Parents have a chance to review any core standards in any discipline before they are approved by the Utah State Board of Education.
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are the science equivalents of the Common Core in other disciplines. Common Core is led by the states. It is not a federal initiative. A Framework for K-12 Science Education was developed by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, which is not a federal agency and received no federal funding for the project. Utah's representative for the development of the Framework Document, on which the NGSS are based, is Brett Moulding, former science specialist in the Utah State Office of Education.
The first draft of the framework document was posted online last year; input was solicited across the United States. Based on that feedback, the framework document was revised and a second version was posted online for additional comments. The final framework is available online at the National Academies Press (http://www.nap.edu ).
Writers from the 45 NGSS-participating states, Utah included, produced the first draft of the NGSS, which was posted online in May 2012. More than 126,000 individuals reviewed this draft, and the second draft is currently being developed and will be posted online this fall. As soon as the finalized NGSS are in place, Sarah Young, the current science specialist at the Utah State Office of Education, will convene writing teams to develop the Next Generation Utah Science Core. This will be developed by Utahns and will reflect the wishes of Utahns in science education.
This entire states-sponsored NGSS development process is being managed by a group called Achieve, and not by the federal government. Funding for the project is being provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and not by the federal government. Anyone wanting to give feedback on the second draft of the NGSS will be able to do so when the document is released.
This statement by Sen. Howard Stephenson on the Common Core is both scholarly and knowledgable: "I am convinced the Utah Core Standards in math and language arts are right for Utah students. These standards will better prepare our students for college and to be competitive in the global economy. These standards are in harmony with Utah values. Our challenge now will be ensuring that when Utah's science and social studies standards are updated, they are as rigorous and faithful to Utah values as the Utah Core Standards in math and language arts."
Sen. Stephenson, they will be!
Richard R. Tolman, Ph.D., serves on the faculty of the Department of Biology at Utah Valley University.