CSCOPE and Common Core...Oh The Irony

The Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, recently released an opinion regarding the use of Common Core in Texas that has several Texans up in arms. While the opinion affirms that the use of the Common Core Standards in Texas is still illegal, the use of materials “aligned” with Common Core is permissible as long as the materials are aligned with the TEKS. My personal opinion is that the TAG got it right. The TEKS standards are highly aligned with the Common Core standards and teachers desperately need the resources that national publishing companies produce to help them meet the TEKS standards in their classroom.

This makes perfect sense. Outlawing any material that has been “aligned” with Common Core would greatly limit a teacher in the classroom. There are over 40 states that use Common Core and virtually every national publishing company that creates educational curriculum and materials has determined every possible place their content aligns with Common Core and stamped their products “aligned.” Sadly, there are several members in grassroots organizations that don’t seem to understand this and have made it their mission to outlaw any curriculum or instructional material that is “aligned” with Common Core, AND punish school districts who do! Here comes the irony…

These same radicals insist on perpetuating the idea that the TEKS Resource System, formerly known as CSCOPE, is the same thing as Common Core. How they arrive at this conclusion is beyond my comprehension, considering one is standards and the other is curriculum. Nonetheless, I don’t think they have thought this all the way through. The TEKS Resource System is 100% aligned with the TEKS and is in no way considered “aligned” with the Common Core standards in content. While the TEKS Resource System does not include instructional materials, it is the only published curriculum available (that I am aware of…) that would meet their request that no curriculum or instructional materials be “aligned” with the Common Core in any way.

Had the TAG not ruled in favor of using Common Core “aligned” materials to meet the TEKS, the only published resource left for districts would have been the TEKS Resource System. Now that is ironic!

Note: I do not advocate the use of Common Core State Standards in Texas, I like the TEKS just the way they are.