Is the Common Core Making Students Smarter?

There is a lot of debate about the Common Core Standards and whether or not it is helping students. Unfortunately, I think there is a lot of misinformation circulating, and people who aren't very knowledgeable on the subject having a lot to say about it.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the Common Core, it is a set of high-quality academic standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA) that outline goals for what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. As a student going into the teaching profession, I personally think it is nice to have some expectations of what I should be teaching students set out for me. It is also nice to know that students nationwide should be being taught the same things.While most of us would think that it is common understanding what students should learn when, research shows that everyone had a different opinion. Visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/Karin-Chenoweth/wait---tell-me-again-what_b_5758846.html to learn about the important things the Common Core standards can do.
Notice that nowhere in the above definition does it say that the Common Core will tell you HOW to teach these standards. Teachers still have the freedom to come up with their own creative activities to decide how their students learn best.
Many people complain that the standards are "dumbing down" our students. This simply isn't true. In fact, the Common Core is meant to have the opposite effect: to teach students to have more critical thinking skills and not just be able to memorize facts. Others believe the system is setting up kids to fail. Those that oppose the standards need to understand that changes will not be made overnight, and results will not be immediate. Yes, many students will not meet the expectations at first because they haven't been exposed to it long enough, but the ultimate goal is to raise the academic level of EVERY student. If in the beginning a student fails a test, it isn't because they are any less smart, but because the expectations have been raised. As a parent myself, I am all for my child being pushed and challenged academically. Who wants mediocre for their own child?
Therefore, I'm asking that as a society we all become more knowledgeable on the Common Core before we dispute it, and know that it's intentions are to give students higher order thinking skills, not make them less smart or set them up to fail.

 Other resources used:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-rosen/myth-of-the-month-common-_b_5545185.html
http://koin.com/2014/05/01/set-fail-implementing-common-core-curriculum-oregon/
http://www.eagleforum.org/publications/column/common-core-wont-make-kids-smarter.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/Karin-Chenoweth/wait---tell-me-again-what_b_5758846.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev9cysqJNsw


 The following video shows how a teacher uses the Common Core standards to do a fun, engaging activity in her classroom, while getting her students to develop deeper thinking skills.

The Flynn Effect and Project-Based Learning

Are students in the 21st century "smarter" than their parents and grandparents? Researchers believe so. Although being more wise is arguable.
The steady rise of IQ scores over the years is known as "The Flynn Effect." This idea is that each generation gets smarter and smarter. The Flynn Effect was named after political scientist James Flynn, who was the first to notice the astonishing rise in IQ scores. The average person in 2012 was smarter than 95% of the population in 1900. IQ's have been creeping upward every decade.
Flynn believes that there are 3 main reasons for these higher scores: 1) Formal schooling 2) We can see more hypotheticals, not just concrete facts and 3) Visual images. Other factors that can affect IQ levels are better nutrition in formative years, brains adapting to a more abstract environment, fewer infections leading to healthier children, and smaller family size. Due to this decrease in family size, children in the 21st century also tend to be more heavily nurtured by their parents.
For so many years kids have been pumped full of information that educators thought was important, but schools are finding that students are more successful when they have input in what they'd like to learn. Giving students project-based learning tasks that help with real world problems helps kids transfer their knowledge to various subjects. To hear more on this topic, visit: http://www.edutopia.org/newsome-park-elementary-project-learning-video
The following is an example of a project-based activity to use in the classroom:

Worm Habitat 

 Borrowed from: Little Priorities blog

Materials Needed:
Clear Container (I used a small plastic fish aquarium. Could use a jar for smaller habitats.)
Gravel
Sand
Potting Soil
Oatmeal, Rotten Banana
Strips of newspaper
1.  Put the gravel on the bottom.
2.  Add soil.  Spritz with water. Not too much, Worms can drown.
3.  Moist newspaper but not drenched.
4.  Oatmeal
5.  Repeat the process.
6.  Put the banana on the top between the side and the soil.
7.  Add worms to the top and observe.
8.  Cover with mesh or cheesecloth so they can breath.
9.  Put in dark room or I cover it with black butcher block paper.
10.  Try to observe around the same time each day.

They wrote down their observations about the worms.  They wish the worms moved faster!

Today we also ate worms!  Gummy worms that is!  Each child got one gummy worm.  They measured the worm in inches and centimeters.  They with a buddy they stretched out their worm and remeasured it.  Most of them doubled in size.

We them had a lot of fun with a Gummy Worm Math Experiment where we stretched out the worm by weighing it down with pennies.  We measured the worm length every 5 inches.  We were running out of time so we started measuring after every 10 pennies!  We used 100 pennies.  We were just about to add 101 when it snapped!

I used a ruler instead of a dowel and taped a paper clip to the ruler to keep it secure.  I then attached another clip and then I put the clip through the worm.  The bottom clip went through the tail and the little bucket hung on that clip.  The kids were so excited as we kept adding pennies.

I have a data sheet that I eventually hope to upload for you!  Right now I'm off to bed!  Tomorrow we start exploring magnets!

Other resources used:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/03/smarter.aspx
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/03/12/3961513.htm
http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2010/10/29/tests-say-americans-becoming-more-intelligent-over-the-generations-how-could-that-be/