Education historian Diane Ravitch delivered a phenomenal speech in January and provided the key details on the Common Core.
The Washington Post published her speech under the headline “Everything you need to know about the Common Core” . The entire speech is a must read for anyone who needs a quick primer on the Common Core.
Here are a few key excerpts:
“The Common Core standards were developed in 2009 and released in 2010. Within a matter of months, they had been endorsed by 45 states and the District of Columbia. At present, publishers are aligning their materials with the Common Core, technology companies are creating software and curriculum aligned with the Common Core, and two federally-funded consortia have created online tests of the Common Core.
What are the Common Core standards? Who produced them? Why are they controversial? How did their adoption happen so quickly?”
After going through some of the history and key players, Ravitch identifies several problems, including the fact that they are in effect mandates and developmentally inappropriate; but no one knows who is in charge of fixing them.
“Another problem presented by the Common Core standards is that there is no one in charge of fixing them. If teachers find legitimate problems and seek remedies, there is no one to turn to. If the demands for students in kindergarten and first grade are developmentally inappropriate, no one can make changes. The original writing committee no longer exists. No organization or agency has the authority to revise the standards. The Common Core standards might as well be written in stone. This makes no sense. They were not handed down on Mount Sinai, they are not an infallible Papal encyclical, why is there no process for improving and revising them?”
Ravitch then addresses the link between the standards and assessments and how the test results will be used,
“The Common Core standards should be decoupled from standardized testing, especially online standardized testing. Most objections to the standards are caused by the testing. The tests are too long, and many students give up; the passing marks on the tests were set so high as to create failure.
Yet the test scores will be used to rate students, teachers, and schools.
The standardized testing should become optional. It should include authentic writing assignments that are judged by humans, not by computers. It too needs oversight by professional communities of scholars and teachers.”
In her conclusion, Ravitch articulates the anxiety of many who dislike the Common Core,
“I fear that the Common Core plan of standards and testing will establish a test-based meritocracy that will harm our democracy by parceling out opportunity, by ranking and rating every student in relation to their test scores.”
Ravitch fear is well-founded. Common Core is a key component of the P-20 seamless education pathway that tracks children from cradle to career. Data not hopes and dreams will drive our children’s future.
Please read the whole speech and share it with friends. You can find it here.
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