In this blog post, I have composed an annotated bibliography of all the sources I have researched, relating to my controversy. I used APA style, which is the style that the education field uses. I found an online APA style guide, however, I primarily referred to the Rules for Writers textbook.
APA style guide
APA style guide in Rules for Writers:
Hacker, D. Sommers, N. (2014.) Writing Papers in APA Style. Little, K. L. Hea A. K. Hall A.M.
(Eds.) Rules for Writers (7th ed.). (pp. 539-595). Boston, MA. Bedford/St. Martin's.
References
Bayliss, S. (2014). What’s Happening at the Core?; Despite the vast array of publishing materials
geared towards the Common Core State Standards, educators still seek support—and time to adapt. School Library Journal, 60, No. 2, 18. Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.com
In this scholarly article, Sarah Bayliss’ purpose is to introduce the concept of Common Core, and to explain the benefits and disadvantages of the program. The author presents a unique viewpoint of the topic, by including quotes of educational book publishing companies, and their responses to Common Core. In the article, it was concluded that if schools adopted the program, publishing companies could be affected in a positive way. I would use this article to suggest and explain some alternative benefits that the standards may have.
CBS News. (2014, September 21.) The debate over Common Core. CBS News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-debate-over-common-core/
In this article, CBS News presents an unbiased account of the Common Core controversy. The article's purpose is to address the pros and cons of the program, as well as to provide a variety of opinions and thoughts related to it. Educators, government officials and parents are quoted in the article, as they discuss the future of education for the nation. As American education continues to fall behind other countries, politicians and educators are seeking a change in school systems, but many are apprehensive about this particular method. I would refer back to this article if I wanted a neutral, non-partisan perspective relating to Common Core for a future research paper.
Colbert, S. (2014, April 8). Common Core Confusion. [Video file]. Retrieved from www.cc.com
In this video short, comedian and news reporter, Stephen Colbert, satirizes the Common Core controversy. His purpose is to present the humor in the controversy, as well as provide credible facts and information. He includes clips from other news reports, and also quotes from concerned parents. Colbert provides several examples of the types of problems that are given to students in the Common Core program, and by doing so, he points out the ridiculous expectations of students. I would use this video file in a future research project to identify the comicality of the standards and the learning techniques.
Ellenberg, J. (2015, June 16). Meet the New Common Core. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com
In this article, written by Jordan Ellenberg, the Common Core program is bashed and criticized. The purpose of the article is to persuade readers to dislike the program, and to help readers understand the flaws. The author mainly focuses on the new teaching style that would be implemented, and the difficulty that it would bring to students. Ellenberg uses a compelling argument when she discusses her son’s experience in school with the implementation of Common Core. This article serves as a editorial, and would benefit a research paper by offering a first-hand account inside a Common Core classroom.
Houang, R. T. Schmidt, W. H. (2012). Curricular Coherence and the Common Core State
Standards for Mathematics [Abstract]. Educational Researcher, 41, no. 8, 294-308. doi: 10.3102/0013189X12464517
In this abstract of an article, the authors Richard Houang and William Schmidt develop a deep understanding of the effects of Common Core. Their purpose is to relate the findings and statistics of the program to the actual student’s scores, thus determining the success of the standards. Their methods included “regression and analysis of covariance techniques” (Houang R.T., Schmidt, W. H., 2012, pg. 294). Through their research, the authors recognized the trend in higher test scores from students who had some experience in a Common Core classroom. This article is purely based on facts, and would provide helpful evidence when discussing Common Core’s advantages.
Kumar, M. (2015, May 27). Common Core and America. Eagleview News. Retrieved from
http://eagleviewnews.com/2015/05/27/common-core-and-america/
In this short article, a student of Bellbrook High School describes Common Core in simple terms. The author’s purpose is to quickly and easily describe what the program is, and how it started. She is writing to an audience that does not need any prior knowledge of the topic to understand her article. The author keeps referring back to the government, to acknowledge that they have offered many suggestions, regarding education, to states over time, including the Common Core program. Although the author does not provide many useful pieces of information, I would use this source to offer a basic definition of what Common Core is.
Moser, L. (2015, August 19). The Republican Primary Candidates’ Daylong School-Choice
Lovefest [Web log post].. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/schooled/2015/08/19/gop_education_summit_six_candidates_meet_with_campbell_brown_in_new_hampshire.html
In this blog post, the author writes about education from a political standpoint. Her purpose is to provide a negative image of the Republican primary candidates, and their thoughts and opinions on education. The author is clearly against the Common Core program, and uses sarcastic language to get her point across to the readers. The author lists six different candidates, and proceeds to describe their views on the current state of public education. I would most likely choose not to use this article in the future, because it is biased and opinion based, but it does provide evidence to the thought that education is a major political topic.
Nelson, Steve. (2015, August 21). Common Core: The Lego Kit of Education [Web log post].
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-nelson/common-core-the-lego-kit_b_8020956.html
In this blog post, the author begins with an analogy and anecdote, and ends with his clear opinion on Common Core. The article’s main emphasis is on the need for creativity and innovation, in order for a child’s education to flourish. The author explains that the modern educational system prevents this from happening. He admits that the fundamental purpose of the Common Core standards are not bad, however, he does not believe they are executed properly. The author uses loaded vocabulary and pathos to illustrate his view points, and to persuade his audience to think the way he thinks. I found this article extremely well-written and amusing, and I would use this article to include a professional opinion that is anti-Common Core.
NPR (Producer). (2015, August 10). New Tests Push Schools to Redefine ‘Good Enough’
[Audio podcast.] All Things Considered. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/08/07/425058164/who-is-good-enough-in-a-common-core-world
In this podcast, NPR discusses the Common Core standards and what the term “good enough” is defined as. The podcast introduces PARCC, which is a group of seven states that use the Common Core standards, but are trying to modify the tests. PARCC is trying to change the “cut-score” idea, and establish a better means of determining success. The group is realizing that the Common Core program is more of a political issue than anything else. This podcast serves as a very recent update on this controversy, and would serve as a great reference for a research paper, as it describes a new way of looking at the program.
Schlichter, Kurt. (2015, September 2) [Twitter post]. Retrieved from
https://twitter.com/KurtSchlichter/status/639241974793400320.
In this Twitter post, a well-known political figure and activist, Kurt Schlichter, shares his personal experience and opinion on the Common Core controversy. His intended purpose is to criticize and embarrass politician Jeb Bush, while also using persuasive techniques to point out the flaws of the program. Schlichter uses his child’s homework troubles as a way to influence reader’s thoughts. I would most likely use this source to present how exaggerated this controversy is in the political sphere.
Example of annotated bibliography in APA style
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--Jenny Bello
Professor Bottai: Here is a link to my edited page for this blog post. I had a hard time with the hanging indents for the citations, even after I copied, pasted, and edited into Google Drive. My 'editing' page kept looking different than my official published blog post, so I included what it actually supposed to look like. Hope this helps!
REFLECTION:
After looking over two of my classmate's annotated bibliographies, I compared and contrasted it to my own. My classmate, Rose, wrote hers in APA style too, and we had very similar finished products. However, our spacing was different, for whatever reason. In my post, I included a lot of spaces and breaks between summaries and citations, because that is what my APA example seemed to do. Rose used minimal spaces, and her bibliography continued down the page, one citation after another. I am at a loss to know whose method was correct, because we wrote and published our bibliographies in a blog post. Were we supposed to follow the conventions of a blog post, even while writing a formal document, such as an annotated bibliography? I don't have an answer.
Another one of my classmates, Clayton, wrote his annotated bibliography in IEEE style, a format that matches with his discipline, which is electrical and computer engineering. Our citations, of course, were slightly different, as his included the date he accessed the source. I realized that in his discipline, this key piece of information might be considered extremely significant. Technology develops and changes so much, and so if the source is out of date, then it could lead to false information and could be harmful to his research.
Overall, I find it interesting to compare and contrast styles of writing, because each style builds off of an individual set of majors and disciplines.
Professor Bottai: Here is a link to my edited page for this blog post. I had a hard time with the hanging indents for the citations, even after I copied, pasted, and edited into Google Drive. My 'editing' page kept looking different than my official published blog post, so I included what it actually supposed to look like. Hope this helps!
REFLECTION:
After looking over two of my classmate's annotated bibliographies, I compared and contrasted it to my own. My classmate, Rose, wrote hers in APA style too, and we had very similar finished products. However, our spacing was different, for whatever reason. In my post, I included a lot of spaces and breaks between summaries and citations, because that is what my APA example seemed to do. Rose used minimal spaces, and her bibliography continued down the page, one citation after another. I am at a loss to know whose method was correct, because we wrote and published our bibliographies in a blog post. Were we supposed to follow the conventions of a blog post, even while writing a formal document, such as an annotated bibliography? I don't have an answer.
Another one of my classmates, Clayton, wrote his annotated bibliography in IEEE style, a format that matches with his discipline, which is electrical and computer engineering. Our citations, of course, were slightly different, as his included the date he accessed the source. I realized that in his discipline, this key piece of information might be considered extremely significant. Technology develops and changes so much, and so if the source is out of date, then it could lead to false information and could be harmful to his research.
Overall, I find it interesting to compare and contrast styles of writing, because each style builds off of an individual set of majors and disciplines.
Your citations are practically perfect! One little inconsistency I noticed was that your first article needs a "Retrieved from" before the URL. Other than that, your bibliography seems to be on par with your example! Your annotations are as they should be and your sources are properly cited. As another person using APA, I was wondering about the differences in our examples: mine specifically mentioned avoiding spacing change between paragraphs, but yours seems to emphasize it. Do you think this would matter in the grand scheme of Project 1?
ReplyDeleteFocusing on the summary part of your annotated bibliography, I liked how each of your sources included each of the points of an anootated bibliography. There was a great statement of purpose, analysis, and plan for future use. I think you set your self up for success with this annotated bibliography, because from hear it is easy for you to integrate your sources into the final project.
ReplyDelete