Controversy Analysis

Omotinugbon 1

ENG 108-001

2 November 2014.

Common Core in Arizona

“Education is the best legacy”, a phrase one always hears and seems to be true, most especially as a kid when parents always hammer ‘you must get good grades!’ Many believe that there is no future without education; formal to be precise, while others regard it as an optional experience. Nations and Governments all try to improve the General Education for their people, with the common belief that the young generation would be the ones to change the world with the knowledge gained from education in different fields. The everyday improvement in technology poses one to accept the fact that there is still more mysteries to be unsolved and things to be discovered, and the next young “Einstein” would not wake up as an adult someday to make new inventions or discoveries, because it all starts from knowledge gained from the young and tender age. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Good hook Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: True experience. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Like this sentence.

Young Education (K-12) is the foundation for what a student will achieve in the later future going through college and into the real world. It is therefore best to lay the strongest foundation for a child, in order to be well developed for higher levels of education. The U.S.A is a great partaker in the improvement of K-12 Education for children in their nation and they have been trying for many years to improve K-12 education by giving sufficient funds and making programs that guide a student’s education through the 12 years of study. The NCLB (No Child left behind) formed in 2001 is a very good example. Currently, Common core has been the talk of the nation concerning Education. Common core is a set of standards set by the federal government, which the k-12 education of every U.S. state are expected to meet at different levels of education. It is definitely not the first of its kind and has been compared to so many other education programs like NCLB that go on specifically in the U.S.A and its implementation process has been on for many years. Arizona is one of many states which is part of the common core program and is yet to fully implement it due to an absence of consensus. This has brought a lot of attention to the media and public and the debate goes on wide across the state with contradictory opinions and fears on Common core as a benefit or not but one question that has not been answered is “is common core the problem or Arizona?” Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Nice job: one resource in the introduction part. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Good. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Maybe add more transition words in the introduction paragraph.

To begin with, two supporters of Common core Nancy Gardener and Rod Powell, in their article “The Common core is a change for the better”, from the Phi Delta Kappan Journal, try to show and explain the benefits of common core. They both are “skilled longtime” teachers showing that they might have based their judgment on their experience in the education sector. They believe common core “promises to improve teaching without being prescriptive about individual ate content standards.” In their article, they state that they aren’t happy about the brewing controversy from the issue of common core, them being practicing classroom teachers. Though they are in total support of the implementation of common core, they appear to explore the possible reactions from the supporters and detractors of common core. In doing this, as supporters, they focus on the possible views from the opposition, in which they stated that “Some opponents say the standards are dictating… limiting and “too standardized” and also, other critics politicize the standards as an opportunity for the government to take total control of state and local education agencies(Gardener and Powell). Identifying these reactions, they then lay down what they feel are the benefits of common core and how it would affect lives in the future. The article gives in-depth information of the controversy of common core generally in the U.S.A. Gardener and Powell use a mix of formality and informality in their writing, possibly intended to be an article for anyone to relate to. The articles purpose however remains to show support to the idea of common core and the authors might have intended to convince people opposing common core, considering the style of their unbiased analysis. There was a part in the article which the authors described the opinion of the opposition as “crazy”, this is a possible weakness of the article as some readers who may agree to such opinion might feel disrespected. All these said, the authors effectively pass their idea to the audience and though in support of common core they try to reason on both ends, making the article an effective piece. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Nice begining. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Make sure mention that what kind of strategies in the “I” part. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Nice summary / “E” part Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Don’t forget cite the sources in body paragraphs. Comment by bamidele omotinugbon: Peer Review by Yunping Li

The article by Gardener and Powell is a more general one relating to the research question but following sources, which will be discussed stay more specific are related to the issues of common core in Arizona. In a YouTube video, published by Eight Arizona PBS titled “Arizona common core standards” a discussion takes place between an anchor and two Arizona state officials; the state superintendent of public instruction and, John Huppenthal and Arizona Education Association’s President, Andrew Morill. The two officials are in support of the Common core program and this video published a while ago tries to tell the general public about common core by involving people who are greatly involved in such affairs. Starting off the discussion, the officials both tell about the whole idea and purpose of common core, with John Huppenthal describing the program as a reform and Andrew Morill mentioning that “teachers are even eager [for the implementation of common core] because they know students are capable”(Eight PBS). They continue with the discussion, answering minor questions asked by the anchor about the ongoing issues in the state. More relevant, ending the discussion, a question was asked by the anchor directed to the officials, on whether the state of Arizona is ready to implement common core. The superintendent gave his opinion that the state was ready to implement common core, but the answer from the association’s President, a fellow supporter, was quite different. Andrew Morill mentioned that if the state was to be ready to implement Common core, teachers should be given the resources they need (Eight PBS). This answer by Morill can be considered to be the strength of the video, because being a supporter, the public might have expected an unconditional support of Common core in the State, but he also identifies the problems associated. The video in general serves to inform the public about the direction Common core is taking in Arizona. It isn’t the best because of its length considering a relevant subject like “common core” but still it informs the general public about the background of common core and does it effectively.

In this article “Common Core Opponents could have more success with Arizona’s Brewer’s Successor” in the Arizona Capitol Times, the author, Jeremy Duda tries to brief readers, most especially those about the spring-ups from the common core controversy and the reactions in the State Government and Politics. Duda starts the article by talking about the reactions from the legislature and their efforts to “upend” the common core standards in Arizona. Clearly showing that the legislature is an opponent of Common Core, he also identifies Republicans as being split on the issues of Common core, mentioning notable Politicians and Gubernatorial candidates who are not all of the same opinion (Duda). He notes the Republican in support and those in opposition, quoting them from various speeches they gave and discussions. Duda then comes back to talk more about responses from and actions carried out by the senate regarding the Implementation of common core in Arizona. A few lines of the article are however given to show the general reaction from the supporters of common core. He stated that “supporters of common core say much of the opposition is based on misinformation and mischaracterization.” (Duda) Duda does not express his opinion on this matter, making this article predominantly informational and not expressional, also, and neutral. A possible weakness of the article is that Duda fails to conclude his article with some summarization; rather he does it with a quote from someone else. This makes it look incomplete. The article was very effective in giving information to the reader about the controversy in common core relating to the Arizona Politics, and its opposite reactions from different groups.

Jeremy Duda’s neutrality in his can be similarly in an article also in the Arizona Capitol Times titled “Critics raise questions about Common Core Standards”, written by Gary Grado. This article explores how the reactions began at the onset of common core. Grado in his article gives a brief history of common core and its developments and also programs related to it. He then transits into the article’s focus which is about critics of common core. He tries to show possible reasons people claim to be the driving force of opposition to common core. Like Jeremy Duda as well, he touches the Political reactions in Arizona, he mentions that the legislature, whom he regarded as part of the opposition, believes that “the common core will shift control of education from local school boards to Washington.”(Grado) and also how teachers and the Education board act to the issue. He tries explains causes of opposition reactions and how supporters respond to it. Though the article focuses on Arizona, Gary Grado expands to others states and briefs about the issues they have with common core as well. As said earlier Grado like Duda doesn’t incorporate self-expression in article, he uses a vibrant tone in his explanations and tries to tell the public and readers about the Controversy involved in common core. Arizona Resident would learn a lot from the effective piece of writing.

The common core program has brought in this major controversy, where everyone, no matter has a paved way to express support or opposition. A student writer, Emilee Hoopes, at the University of Arizona, in her article “AZ leg needs to invest in reform” from The Daily Wildcat, expresses with detail, her opposition to common core and suggestions to improve the whole program. She begins her article by giving a brief reminder of the daily attention; common core gains from the public, involving reactions via displays from speeches given by mandates, due to the time being the period of gubernatorial elections in Arizona. The fact mentioned in this article, reported by the National Center for School Leadership, that “Arizona was ranked 48th out of the 50 states plus District of Columbia on how much it spends per year” shows that Hoopes critic against the implementation of common core in Arizona is as a result of the State’s Education funding. Continuing her article, Hoopes reviews the possible reactions from the opposite side on the issue of common core. She doesn’t totally condemn the idea of the program; she even states “the general outline of common core is excellent…” (Hoopes) and further tells of possible benefits of common core and what it projects for the future of K-12 students. However, there is still a stand on what she criticizes Arizona’s common core implementation for, which is the funding. She briefs a little on the on-going situations regarding funding in the state and uses this as a supporter to her critic claim. Also, a reaction from a Professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Education, who also opposes to the implementation of common core, was written by Hoopes; this shows a good study before her writing and this could be considered as the strength of her article. The article is a specific one as it focuses on one main reason. Though this is an opposing article, Hoopes talks about the benefits of common core, showing that she is not inclined to her own opinion and possibly doesn’t want to be too judgmental. She however expresses perfectly her opinion and this serves to convince readers and people who may have thought in her way of reasoning.

Jill Koyama, a part of the opposition to the implementation of common core in Arizona, in her interview also expresses her opinion on the issue. The problem she identifies the state of Arizona with is funding, as well, like Hoopes. She being an expert in the education sector, she sets off with a short history of programs like common core which brought as much controversy, she talks about the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) program that was implemented and has not brought so much success regarding the improvement of K-12 education in the U.S.A. She believes the failure of NCLB could be a possible stigma that leads to the opposition of common core in Arizona. When asked to rate the welfare of K-12 In Arizona, she gave it an F, noting the problem of spending per student, which has been an on-going problem of the state for quite a while. Jill Koyama definitely expresses her opinion and supports it with details and a strategy of comparison and contrast. Being an interview, it may be difficult to relate to it as responses depend solely on questions asked, and this is a possible weakness. However, the interview is a good resource to analyze what the opposition of common core claim to be the problem

All these sources that try to express opinions to, inform and convince audience on the issues of common core. While common core still remains the topic of debate, Hoopes’ article shows a great deal of ideas and field work by the author in passing in communicating with the audience regarding Common core in Arizona.

WORKS CITED

Duda, Jeremy. “Common core opponents could have more success with Arizona Gov. Brewer’s successor.” The Arizona Capitol Times. (2014): n.p. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 20 0ct. 2014.

Eight, Arizona PBS. “Arizona Common Core Education Standards.” YouTube, 11 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

Gardener, Nancy S., and Powell Rod.” The Common Core is a change for the better.” Phi Delta Kappan. 95.4 (2013): n.p. Questia. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

Grado, Gary. “Critics raise questions about Common Core Standards.” The Arizona Capitol Times. (2013): n.p. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

Hoopes, Emilee. “AZ leg needs to invest in reform.” The Daily Wildcat Tucson 6 Oct. 2014, Vol. 108: 4. Print.

Koyama, Jill. Personal Interview. 28 Oct. 2014.