Sure, I agree, Common Core is just the latest bad educational idea.
Bad language skills, math skills, inadequate science and social studies content.
This teacher tells the story and the history of how we lost our schools.
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2014/02/common_core_and_unionitis.html
I teach at the professional level, to individuals of high achievement and talent, so I am spoiled.
Well written. The author hits a lot of nails on the head in this article. It’s taken decades to create this problem; I don’t think fixing it will happen any faster. For me, this means homeschooling our children is the only valid solution. The most bizarre objection I’ve heard about that decision is that we’re “cheating the public school kids” out of our kids’ intelligence. Apparently the public school needs my 2 children to raise their test averages and help teach the other children. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that knowledge of long division is genetically encoded and those gifted few have a social obligation to pick up the teachers’ slack. Some people just can’t grasp that “smart” is the product of hard work and study by both the student and the teachers. It’s no surprise that people who think it would be “unfair” to fire a teacher if their class is failing would also teach children that it’s unfair to fail a class just because you didn’t study as hard as the other kids. Why would someone who objects to merit-based pay support merit-based grading?
I’m working with an education person who taught by teaching students how to find things and learn by themselves or in small groups. Learning how to learn versus packing selected facts in. He makes good points.
Link broken, but still a valid point. All about control. As Thatcher put it “that the gentlemen in Whitehall know more about how the people should live than the people themselves.”