Educators all across the nation are experiencing substantial
amounts of stress, confusion and despair as they attempt to understand the Common Core learning standards and create fresh lesson plans that meet the new expectations.
Ground zero for Common Core-aligned burnout appears to be in Maryland’s Baltimore County Public Schools. BaltimoreSun.com reports all 8,700 BCPS teachers have filed a grievance against the district over administrators’ failure to provide them with new Common Core-ready lesson plans in a timely manner, as required by their union contract.
“The county teachers have complained that they’ve been working long hours because the lesson plans have not been available until just weeks before they are to be taught and the website to access those lessons has been difficult to use,” reports BaltimoreSun.com.
Baltimore County school leaders acknowledge they’ve fallen behind in creating lessons, especially at the elementary school level, and are attempting to stay a few weeks ahead of teachers, according to the news site.
A new survey of Maryland State Education Association members suggests Common Core’s implementation has been hurried and sloppy throughout the entire state. Only 9 percent of teachers believe their school will have “the technological and physical capacity to administer” the computer-based Common Core-aligned state tests that will be used beginning next school year, reports ChesapeakeFamily.com.
Some 2,700 miles away in Washington’s Issaquah School District, teachers are facing equally chaotic conditions, due to the implementation of Common Core.
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