As elected representatives from across the state of North Dakota assemble for the 65th Legislative Assembly, I have a message for many of them. When it comes to the Common Core State Standards, it appears you have been duped. “By whom?,” you say. By our very own Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kirsten Baesler. It seems…
Justin LaBar: This Teacher Does Not Want Common Core Or Kirsten Baesler
As I listened to an interview with North Dakota’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kirsten Baesler, on Joel Heitkamp’s show, I realized that Ms. Baesler is either delusional or a liar. Maybe both. On Tuesday, the Bismarck Tribune reported in an article titled, “North Dakota to Write Standards Replacing Common Core,” that Baesler said, “We will…
Leah Peterson: Anti-Common Core Parents Want More Than Empty Promises
Kirsten Baesler’s announcement that North Dakota is moving away from Common Core should raise a lot of questions for parents and voters concerned about our education system. It would be too easy to see this as a ploy to gain votes. Baesler’s own statements leads one to suspect that this is just that–a strategy made…
Baesler Says Shift Away From Common Core Wasn't A Campaign Choice
Yesterday Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced that the Department of Public Instruction would begin the process of developing new North Dakota education standards which will move the state away Common Core. “We will be producing a superior set of North Dakota standards for our public schools, written by North Dakota teachers, that establish clear and high…
ND Superintendent Announces Beginning Of Move Away From Common Core Standards
About a month ago I wrote that North Dakota’s Republicans, many of whom were stalwart supporters of Common Core, were beginning to turn their backs on the education standards. Among them the Stenehjem/Poolman gubernatorial ticket and state Superintendent Kirsten Baesler who has had a rocky first year in office, in no small part because of…
Joe Chiang: Common Core Math Is Not Common
There have been complaints about elementary teachers, elementary students, and parents of elementary students being unable to understand Common Core elementary math. There is a logical reason. The methods elementary teachers must teach are learned by math majors in Number Theory College Math class, an advanced math class sometimes taken by math minors as well…
Matt Evans: A Quick Complaint About Smarter Balanced Testing
For the past three years I’ve taught computer science in a North Dakota public high school. It’s very difficult to find people who are properly trained to teach computer science and have the appropriate teaching certifications, so it’s very difficult to bring rigorous computer science to public high schools. To combat this problem, I’m part…
Jim Kasper: North Dakota Must Withdraw From Common Core And Smarter Balanced Consortium
Those parents and citizens who supported the efforts lead by myself and a small number of Legislators, during the 2015 Legislative Session to extract North Dakota from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, (SBAC) and Common Core, are thankful that the powers that be here in North Dakotas have “seen the light” and now are fully…
North Dakota Republicans Are Turning On Common Core
During the 2015 legislative session there was a pitched battle among lawmakers over Common Core. One faction wanted to pull the state away from the standards while a larger faction – the one which won the debate – wanted to stick with it. Flash forward to 2016 and suddenly the Republicans are singing a very…
Incumbent Superintendent Almost Upset By Anti-Common Core Teacher
Superintendent Kirsten Baesler – who has had a rocky first term in office between an ugly battle over the controversial Common Core standards and personal issues which spilled into the headlines – won a squeaker over Fort Totten teacher Joe Chiang today. The official announcement was that there were 1,640 seated delegates, but only 1,359…