Narrowing my Focus

In this blog post, I will refer back to the questions that I have just made in my post titled, "Questions About Controversy." I will pick a few questions that I think are most important and interesting and explain why I think I should answer them.

1) Who is responding more positively towards the program, gifted or regular students?

• This is a very interesting question to me, primarily because in my research, I have not found a lot of information on this specific aspect of the program. I think it would help to build my argument, either in agreement or disagreement towards Common Core. This statistic could help me focus more on the student's perspective rather than on the parent's and teacher's.

Stefano Bertolotti. "Question mark." 01/23/2010 via Flickr.
Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 2.0 Generic License.

2) Where has this controversy been the most prevalent? Journalism? Social media?

• I want to find the answer to this question because I think it reflects a lot on what people are saying about the issue. If people are mainly talking on social media about Common Core, they are going to be openly critical and harsh about the subject. But, if a writer is discussing Common Core in an academic journal or magazine, their language and opinion of the controversy will be different. Within different genres, people often change their perspective on controversies.

3) How is Common Core going to affect alternative schooling, such as home-schooling and online school?

• This is a big factor in the controversy today, because some do not think that Common Core is a universal education method that can be adopted outside of public schools. This is something to consider that will help me form my argument either in agreement or disagreement with the standards. A lot of people and parents have complained about this issue, but have not provided actual evidence in relation to this question. 

--Jenny Bello