If one of the reasons for the declining scores on the Maryland School Assessment tests is that teachers are already adjusting their teaching to the new Common Core, and thus are not covering all of the content that was covered on these older tests, then I would have to question the development of the old tests, any new tests, and the Common Core in general ("State's test scores decline," July 24).
Take math, for example. You can't cover all of the math content in a year-long course in one final test; therefore, you need "experts" to design tests that reflect the essential material in a given math course. If this material was deemed essential in math a few years ago, then wouldn't it still be essential in the Common Core? If the Common Core is somehow better, then wouldn't it somehow be presenting the essential content better?
Paul Leroy