Common Core standards are the educational fashion of the moment, but your child’s teacher can name many similar plans that went awry. I was impressed at first with the brain power and good intentions behind the Common Core standards, launched by nongovernmental groups with the support of the Obama administration and governors of both parties. I thought the change would elevate instruction and end the distressing difference between what defined student proficiency in Massachusetts (pretty high) compared with Mississippi (quite low.)
But I have been talking to Brookings Institution scholar Tom Loveless, a national expert on this topic, and read his latest research paper: “Predicting the Effect of Common Core Standards on Student Achievement.” He reviewed the research. He assessed the chances of the Common Core standards making a difference. It turns out this is another big disappointment we should have figured out long ago.
No Child Left Behind merely required that states set standards and test to determine if students were meeting them, whereas now we have national standards. What's that pesky Constitution say in the 9th and 10th Amendments?
What a debacle.
Hat tip to Joanne Jacobs.
The government could implement a uniform set of standards without being involved in education at all. Here's how: set competency standards for government employees and apply them consistently when hiring.
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