Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Common Core School Standards


Backer of Common Core School Curriculum Is Chosen to Lead College Board
By Tamar Lewin : New York Times
David Coleman, an architect of the common core curriculum standards that are being adopted in nearly all 50 states, will become the president of the College Board, starting in October.
Editors note: Common core standards is what the politicians talk about while cutting school budgets.  Such standards do not teach a single student.
“There’s no reason on earth for common core standards and these tests that we’re wasting billions of dollars on,” said Stephen Krashen, an emeritus education professor at the University of Southern California. “The problem is poverty, poverty, poverty. Middle-class children who go to well-funded schools do very well, but even the best tests, the most inspiring teachers, won’t mean anything if the kids don’t have enough to eat.”

The College Board, a membership organization of high schools and colleges that administers the SAT, the Advanced Placement program and other standardized tests, helped design the standards — an outline of what students should learn in English and math from kindergarten through high school — meant to ensure that all high school graduates are prepared for college.
Many other leading education figures, including Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, also endorsed the appointment.
Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, said, “David is one of the true creative geniuses in the ed reform world, one of the brightest, most engaging and most persistent people in the field.”
Mr. Coleman and the standards have other critics, too.
Over all, Mr. Coleman said, there is widespread enthusiasm for the standards. “The degree of consensus is remarkable,” he said. “I think a lot of my success has been my ability to work with teachers.”
See the full article.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem is not "poverty, poverty, poverty", that's just a small part of the problem. Did you know poor Asian kids do better on the SAT than upper middle class black and white and Latino kids, even upper class black kids? Every child can get food stamps. Go to the ghetto, you see fat kids. Kids aren't starving here, what world are you in? Go to the library in San Francisco on San Bruno Avenue. You see Asian kids there, walk a few blocks to the park known as Palega park, and you will see all races, including Asians. If you watch a lot of TV, you will do poorly. Parents who work very hard to educate their kids and make sure they work hard get turned off by this kind of talk. Within each income level there is a huge range of academic achievement, even between siblings. Going to the library or a cafe each Saturday will lead to good grades, whether poor or not. You can get food stamps and many are on this, plus free lunch. The obesity percentage of failing African American kids is higher than that for successful Asian kids. To succeed we need the Amy Chua way. It works for all classes. African American kids watch 40 hours a week of TV, Asians about 10. Asian kids study over 15 hours a week, whites about 6, other races less, on average in the U.S. Poverty has nothing to do with it. Hard work and holding your kids to a higher standard has everything to do with it. Wake up!

Anonymous said...

Seriously, who doesn't have enough to eat? In the ghettoes kids are fat, more than in good areas. Come on. Focus on the real problem, lack of studying, single parent homes with a TV on, lack of focus on education and studying, Obama talks about this. The issue isn't food intake. We pay taxes for food stamps and school lunches, and they don't even deduct school lunches calories from the food stamp ones, so there are extra calories to buy wholesome food. Junk food is more expensive than wholesome food. It's a choice, and not studying is a choice.