Will Common Core Standards be a good thing for America?
Maybe, but only if we understand the proper use and potential abuse
that could easily occur if we aren’t watching closely. After all, WE are
the ultimate check-and-balance. WE had better understand the circles of influence because influence is power that can turn to control.
Many
think as Bill Gates expressed in the September 23, 2007 Parade
Magazine, “It’s incredible that we have no national standards.” And
there is some soundness to the idea, but, standards-based “reform” has
only been proven NOT to work in America with No Child Left Behind being
the most current example.
So, is Common Core a “national” standard? Not yet, but only because some states said “no thank you,” at this time.
So the argument goes:
Common Core is a state initiative. That “fact” you will have to decide for yourself. Is it state-led or Gates-led?
Standards are not curriculum.
True. Standards are a teaching guide to help ensure all children are
taught what we judge to be important. But as the sequence of events
goes; we develop standards, we develop tests to match those standards,
and then what we teach and how (the curriculum) is aligned with the
tests. Standards will direct curriculum so that makes
it important to see how promoters of Common Core see the role of the
federal government as compared to former lawmakers.
Back
in 1965, Congress was influential in putting federal education law into
place and clearly expressing within it the federal role as investment
in children from low-income families whose needs were not being
addressed by localities. And the testing of these children was to ensure the extra funds were serving the children’s learning needs. This law carefully explained the federal limits. Section 604 of The Elementary and Secondary Education Act read:
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