Assistant Professor Kate E. O’Hara of New York Institute of Technology’s School of Education is available to discuss Common Core standards,flaws, implementation issues, and the negative impact on teachers and students. “The Common Core Standards, standardized testing, and teacher evaluation are intertwined in a neoliberal push to privatize public education and ‘de-skill’ the teaching profession,” says O’Hara, contributing author and editor of the upcoming book, Teacher Evaluation: The charge and challenges. The book includes contributions from notable scholars in the field, critiques of existing evaluation practices, and alternative evaluation models. “In schools across the country, classroom teachers have lost their creativity and autonomy, required to use ‘Common Core-aligned’ materials,” says O’Hara. “Further, in an effort to increase their share, textbook publishers promote the sales of Common Core-aligned material; however, research reveals that many textbooks are identical to the old, pre-standard textbooks. Schools now use their limited funds to purchase ‘approved’ content and teachers teach scripted curriculum.”

O'Hara designs, plans, and implements face-to-face and online courses in NYIT's Master of Science in Instructional Technology program. A faculty member since 2009, she guides graduate students in the development of technology-integrated activities, lessons, and units that meet Common Core learning standards. O'Hara has served as an instructional technology and teacher education consultant for several public school districts in New York and New Jersey and has presented numerous papers on classroom technology, the digital divide, interdisciplinary problem solving, and visual literacy strategies at educational conferences.