Nothing to fear with Common Core

I have a unique vantage point from which to view Common Core. Last fall, the Idaho Department of Education issued an open invitation to Idaho residents to serve on its Bias and Sensitivity Committee; application directions appeared in the Coeur d'Alene Press and elsewhere. According to Senate Bill 1396, "It is the intent of the Legisla-ture to ensure that parents of students, teachers and administrators in Idaho's public education system can participate in reviewing the type and kinds of questions that are posed in state assessments." The bill creates a committee of 30 individuals - two parents, one teacher, one administrator, and one school board member from each of the State's six education regions. I applied and was appointed.

I traveled to Boise twice, once in December for five days, and again in January for three. My expenses were paid but there was no stipend; since some expenses could not be reimbursed, I spent some of my own money and imagine all others did, too. Our two-fold task: 1. Review all 33,000 test questions that Idaho students from fourth grade on will be facing in standardized evaluations of their progress; and, 2. Eliminate any that show signs of either bias or insensitivity. Our state is a member of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, comprising 17 states and one territory. Idaho is the first to assemble a committee to "examine the exams" in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, the only two that exist thus far.

Because there were so many questions, the Department of Education augmented the committee membership to 83 for the December meeting, under the extremely able direction of Angela Hemingway, its Director of Assessment and Accountability; even with that number of readers, it was a daunting task. We worked from 8 in the morning until 5 at night without many breaks. I went to bed exhausted.

According to the My Turn column written by Ms. Melanie Vander Feer (the Press, Jan. 31) the committee ought to have encountered numerous examples of a federal curriculum that prepares students for two-year college degrees rather than four-year and trains our children to be "good little global citizens" who are taught "non-Biblical, anti-American, anti-Christian values." "American history," she claims, "with the founding fathers and patriotism will be taken out." She makes many more claims, citing as authority a website called unitedconservativesofnorthidaho.org.

I did not read and evaluate all 33,000 questions; my portion consisted of 1,500 questions. I did, however, learn much more in a general way from my trusted colleagues, some of whom live right here in Coeur d'Alene. Suffice it to say, there is absolutely no evidence supporting any of the claims Ms. Vander Feer made. What I saw was rather something of a wonder, thousands of questions that have been masterfully crafted. They measure Idaho students' abilities to hear or read well chosen, highly educational, and very interesting passages and then respond to questions that measure comprehension. I hold an earned doctorate in English and am confident in my ability to evaluate those tasks. I rate the questions A+.

As far as that two-year college nonsense, my only fear is that the exam may prove too difficult for many students; another retired college instructor from Coeur d'Alene agreed. I was not supposed to take the exam but could not resist trying some questions; they were tough but fair.

I found similar high quality in the math questions. I am not nearly as competent in mathematics as in language arts but I sure know bias or insensitivity when I see them.

I can assure readers that none of the committee members I talked to found evidence of bias or insensitivity; neither did we find evidence of pro-Muslim subject matter, another red herring that is frequently tossed into the mix. The materials are impeccably written (many by Idaho teachers) and will pass muster with any objective reader. The sample questions on the DOE website are entirely representative of the overall span of the questions so if you are not offended by local landmarks, curfews, and solar power (the subjects of the first three questions on one of the sample tests) it is unlikely you will be offended by very many of the 33,000 real questions.

Since my term is for two years, perhaps Ms. Vander Feer will volunteer to replace me in 2016. If so, and if she is selected, I am confident she will come to the same conclusions I did, that there is nothing to fear from these questions and, by extension, Common Core. And, of course, the process in which I participated belies the notion of a federal takeover; we were empowered to red flag any questions that did not meet our rigorous committee standards just as teachers and the state of Idaho can discard any segments of Common Core they deem inappropriate.

Timothy Hunt is a Hayden resident.