Sunday, November 22, 2015

Common Core Making Kids Anxious, Say School Psychologists



Common Core Making Kids Anxious, Say School Psychologists
by Dr. Susan Berry 21 Nov 2015
New York State school psychologists say the Common Core standards are associated with increased student anxiety, according to a new report released Friday.

Some 76% of school psychologists in the state’s nearly 700 school districts say Common Core – and the standardized tests associated with it – are associated with more anxiety than local tests, observes a report titled “Anxious for Success: High Anxiety in New York Schools,” released jointly by the New York State School Boards Association and the New York State Association of School Psychologists.

The report indicates that since the implementation of the Common Core standards and the grades 3-8 tests aligned with them, six in ten school psychologists – or 61% – said the level of test anxiety has increased among students. None of the school psychologists said the level of test anxiety has decreased since Common Core.

In addition, the survey results showed that nearly 90% of school psychologists who participated believed that teachers’ expectations contributed at least somewhat to test anxiety, and 88% percent said that parents’ expectations also contributed to students’ stress.

According to the survey, test anxiety is more common in elementary school-age children, with reports of internalized emotional symptoms – such as excessive worry and withdrawal – found to be twice as common among students as externalized ones – irritability, frustration, and acting out. Thus far, physical symptoms – such as nausea and headaches – were not found to be as prevalent as stress and anxiety among students.

The report continues that about one-third of school psychologists in the state have implemented stress and anxiety management programs in classrooms in their schools.

“This report should make all education stakeholders – from state policymakers to local teachers to parents – aware of the profound impact that they can have, both positive and negative, on student test anxiety,” Timothy Kremer, executive director of the School Boards Association, said in a statement.

Support for the Common Core standards has continued to decline since the reform has been implemented. In August, the annual Education Next poll found that only 49% of those surveyed were supportive of the standards, down from 53% in 2014, and 65% the year prior.

Common Core standards
Jeb Bush is a supporter of the Common Core educational standards, and a member of the Alfalfa Club.

Note: Dianne Feinstein is a member of the Alfalfa Club, a U.S. Senate senator, and married to Richard C. Blum.
Richard C. Blum is married to Senator Dianne Feinstein, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Diane S. Ravitch was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), an assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, and is a Common Core educational standards critic.
Race to the Top is a grant program for the U.S. Department of Education, and encourages the adoption of the Common Core educational standards.
Susan E. Rice was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and Lois Dickson Fitt’s daughter.
Lois Dickson Fitt is Susan E. Rice’s mother, was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a VP at the College Board.
David Coleman is the president of the College Board, and was a co-founder of the Student Achievement Partners.
Student Achievement Partners helped develop the Common Core educational standards.
Achieve Inc. helped develop the Common Core educational standards.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for Achieve Inc., the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Newton N. Minow is an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.   
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.           
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.   
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).     
Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), Achieve Inc., the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).    
David A. Hamburg is an adviser for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and the president emeritus for the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and Achieve Inc.
Achieve Inc. helped develop the Common Core educational standards.

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