Hunter Cox

Eng2001
10/3/14
I, like many educators, have been following the common core standards for some time.
They are a set of standards set on Math and English that have been adopted by many states
across the country. The ongoing national debate is being closely watched by many educators.
Common Core has less support in poll by Caroline Porter talks about how the public support is
dropping (Porter 2014). Common Core has Become a Touchy Subject for Governors Group by
Beth Reinhard talks about how governors in states are finding it hard to make a decision
politically (Reinhard 2014). Test Scores are No Sure Guide to What Students Know by Jo
Craven McGinty is about how testing scores has becoming a talking point for the national debate
(McGinty 2014). The Conservative Case for the Common Core by William J. Bennett is an
opinion article about how the politics is getting in the way (Bennett 2014). All of these articles
show that the political aspect of the common core debate is getting in the way of the education
debate.
Author of Common Core has less support in poll, Caroline Porter has written many
articles on education, particularly common core standards. She uses a poll from Gallup, a
reputable poll source, to build her credibility. The audiences for the article is readers following
the political debate of the common core and educators. She might have the motivation to write
this article to show that why support for the common core is dropping. The main premise of the
article is that support is dropping because of political debates, but many people still support the
idea of national standards. Pointing out that the republicans attack it for being federal
intrusion, Porter makes the assertion that the words common core have a stigma about them

because of political debate. Porter writes that Interestingly, Those polled were more amenable
to educational standards when the words Common Core weren't included; support jumped to
68%.The authors of the Education Next report said that their findings suggest that the idea of
national standards remains popular even though the term Common Core has become
polarizing(Porter 2014). This poll showing that the idea is popular but it is not supported
because of partisan debate. Porter talks to a teacher from Statesboro Georgia who supports the
common core, but she also talks to two other educators. One educator says that the common core
sets too much store on standardized testing. She uses speakers in education to create a personal
connection (pathos) with her reader by making them more than just a set of numbers. The people
prove her point by acknowledging that standards are a good way to motivate and help students,
but the common core is taking time to implement and educate the public about, leading to
disapproval. The limitations is that this article is mostly about the politics of the common core
debate and it does not have much content about the teaching aspect. The limitation is that readers
of the wall street journal are more familiar with the political debate than the education side of the
debate (Porter 2014).
Beth Reinhard, author of Common Core Becomes Touchy Subject for Governors
Group is a political writer for the Wall Street Journal. Having covered many types of political
issues, she is qualified to write about the problems the governors are facing in the common core
debate. She uses news about the recent National Governors Convention to build her credibility
with factual evidence. She writes this article for the conservatively minded people who read the
wall street journal and have been watching the common core debate. The reader would need to
be familiar with the common core standards and the debate on both sides about them. The main
argument in this article is that the republican governors seeking the presidency in 2016 are

finding it hard to take a stance on the common core. She builds a personal connection with the
audience by talking to governors and using stories about governors that are looking for a bid in
2016. This is an article about the strategies of candidates looking ahead to the republican
primary. She says that Lousiana Governor, Bobby Jindal is trying to pull his state out of the
common core testing, but he is facing backlash from several portions of the Louisiana state
government and economically minded common core supporters. In New Jersey, Chris Christie is
finding it hard to work with the teachers union in his state to make decisions about the common
core. Reinhard uses examples such as Christie and Jindals to show how republican governors
are facing indecision in their common core decisions. The limitations of the article is one made
by the wall street journal. The article focuses on the republican side of things because the Wall
Street Journals audience is usually conservative. She only mentions one democrat governor in
the entire article but continually shows the viewpoints of the republican governors. Only talking
about republican governors limits the scope of the article, especially the ones seeking election in
2016. Since the Wall Street journal is mostly conservative, the focus on the potential upcoming
2016 republican candidates and speculations about their campaign strategies, are a more focused
group of people. . She could have talked about some democrat governors to even things out
(Reinhard 2014).
Jo Craven McGinty wrote the article Test Scores are No Sure Guide to What Students
Know. McGinty writes the numbers column for the Wall Street Journal and that is exactly how
she builds her Ethos; she uses facts, statistics, and opinions from experts to back up her
argument. This article speaks to two audiences, the people who have been watching the common
core debate and educators. The main premise of the article is that testing is not really a good
way to assess student knowledge for several reasons. Citing state test scores and how they

changed because of morphing standards in New York, McGinty cites experts saying that the
students are the same, but the standards are changing. She uses the case in New York to
demonstrate that proficient is just a word to prove that you are passing the standards; the
standards could be really low, or the standards could be really high. She cites the opinions of
experts to show that proficiency is really not indicative of how the students are doing, so
testing is not a good indicator to understand student knowledge. In a numbers column. Writers
are not expected to give any of their own opinion or speculation. McGinty is constrained because
she can only rely on the facts, statistics and opinions of others to show her argument (McGinty
2014). Her article is a good look at an argument that is in the educational debate right now and is
worth looking at; however, her article still has references to the ongoing political debate going on
throughout the country. The article fleshes out a topic that has been an important for educational
debate, and political debate as well.
In his opinion article The Conservative Case for the common core, William J. Bennett
gives support for the common core from a conservative viewpoint. He builds his credibility as an
educator and a conservative by stating that he was the Secretary of Education during Ronald
Reagans administration. His audience is the conservative readers and educators who oppose the
common core. His purpose in this article is to persuade his readers that the common core is not a
bad thing and is actually a good idea. He establishes a connection with his readers by showing
personal stories like when he was on the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he asked
everyone to come up with things every person should know. People across all viewpoints came
up with certain books and skillsets that students should learn in school. He equates this idea of
common knowledge everyone should have with the common core. He builds his argument by
saying that students take the SAT and ACT every year, and there must be some kind of common

knowledge for everyone to take it. He also dispels some of the common core myths that have
been going around about a required reading list stating that the only required reading is the
Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Lincoln's
Second Inaugural Address. He also appeals to his fellow conservative by saying that political
tactics like Obamas Race to the Top have ruined peoples views of the idea of the common core,
and people should not let the politics get in the way of a good idea. Political factors are
influencing his assertions because he feel that conservatives are being pushed away by Obamas
support of the common core. The intended reader, the conservative opposition, leads his
argument to show why the political opposition is in the way. The other intended audience, the
educator who opposed common core, leads him to talk about how curriculum should have a set
of things shared in every state and that we already do to some degree (Bennett 2014).
The articles all refer to how political debate is overshadowing the educational evaluation
of the common core, specifically the numbers of tests students are made to take. Porters article
is about the political stigma that comes with the words common core and how it interferes with
some citizens goal of national education standards (Porter 2014). The Reinhard article shows
that the political debate is getting tougher, and it is limiting the actions that states and their
governors can take (Reinhard 2014). McGintys numbers article is more factually minded with
facts about the standardized testing in common core, but it still mentions that the political
common core debate is diverting the public from important educational issues (McGinty 2014).
William J. Bennett is about the common core being a good idea, but the political ideas are
getting in the way (Bennett 2014). These articles use effective rhetorical strategies to prove their
points, and focus on the political side rather than the educational side of the topic.

Works Cited
Bennett, William J. The Conservative Case for Common Core Wall Street Journal 10 Sept
2014. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/articles/william-j-bennett-the-conservativecase-for-common-core-1410390435?KEYWORDS=common+core
McGinty.Jo Craven. Test Scores Are No Sure Guide to What Students Know Wall Street
Journal 11 July 2014. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/articles/test-scores-are-nosure-guide-to-what-students-know1405122823?tesla=y&mod=WSJ_WSJ_Careers_PublicSearch&mg=reno64-wsj
Porter, Caroline. Common Core has Less Support in Poll Wall Street Journal 20 Aug 2014.
retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/articles/common-core-has-less-support-in-poll1408507261?KEYWORDS=common+core+standards
Reinhard, Beth. Common Core Becomes Touchy Subject for Governors Group Wall Street
Journal 11 July 2014. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/articles/common-corebecomes-touchy-subject-for-governors-group1405120293?tesla=y&mod=WSJ_WSJ_Careers_PublicSearch&mg=reno64-wsj