Diane Ravitch concisely captures the many questions a growing number of us have as well as the growing concerns about who was chosen to write the standards. Did these “Standard Setters” have a deep understanding of how our youngest learn? All considered, is anyone else pondering and reflecting upon the developmental appropriateness in our youngest children? The lobe of the brain that is able to reason is not solidified until 12 years old. Yes, classrooms in younger grades need exposure to higher order questioning, experiences, and thinking skills. However, this gives children the opportunity to grow their brains and ability to learn how to reason logically. To set standards of mastery and “test, test, test” in the early grades, and demand reasoning in performance in order to meet these standards, seems a far stretch and may very well be setting our children up for failure. This failure will not breed the love of learning nor prepare them for college readiness.
There has been much debate about who wrote the Common Core standards.
Here is a press release that lists the names of the writing teams for each subject as well as “feedback” groups.
You will notice a large representation of people from the testing industry (College Board and ACT), as well as people from Achieve, a D.C. think tank.
Notice that the statement says:
“The Work Group’s deliberations will be confidential throughout the process.”
Notice that the statement says:
“Final decisions regarding the common core standards document will be made by the Standards Development Work Group. The Feedback Group will play an advisory role, not a decision-making role in the process.”
Count how many people on either the writing teams or the feedback groups are identified as classroom teachers. Count how many have any experience in teaching children with disabilities. Count how many are experienced in teaching early childhood classes…
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