Core testing: ACT beats PARCC
Following seven other Common Core states, Colorado should withdraw from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) “until the state has a chance to publicly review,...
View ArticleCommon Core no more
As Common Core controversy mounts, several states are renaming the education standards, reports Fox News. Common Core is now “The Iowa Core” in the Hawkeye State. In Florida, it’s “Next Generation...
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Algebra II or welding?
States are dropping college-prep-for-all requirements in a school standards rebellion, writes Stephanie Simon on Politico. Florida students no longer need chemistry, physics or Algebra II to...
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Common Core? What’s that?
The Education Roadtrip is 50CAN’s new survey of Americans’ attitudes toward education. Results can be broken out by region. Respondents trust teachers to improve schools, but not teachers’ unions. And...
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‘Core-aligned’ math books are a ‘sham’
It’s a “sham” to say new math textbooks are “aligned to Common Core standards, says William Schmidt, co-director of Michigan State’s Education Policy Center. After analyzing more than 40 textbooks...
View ArticleUnion leaders go cold on Common Core
Teachers’ union leaders have turned against Common Core standards, writes Tim Daly on the TNTP Blog. National Education Association (NEA) president Dennis Van Roekel is demanding “course corrections”...
View ArticleNew standards are tough on special-need kids
Teachers are supposed to enable all students — including those with “the most significant cognitive disabilities” — to “access” the new, more rigorous Common Core standards, writes Katharine Beals in...
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Getting started with core standards
Fordham’s Common Core in the Districts: An Early Look at Early Implementers examines how school leaders and teachers are implementing new standards “in a high-performing suburb, a trailblazer, an urban...
View ArticleNot ready for college: Will the Core help?
Community college leaders hope Common Core standards and testing will reduce the need for remediation. Core-aligned tests evaluate 11th graders’ college readiness, giving them a year to catch up before...
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Gates speaks up for Common Core
As more states rethink Common Core standards and testing, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates says high, consistent standards are essential to keep the U.S. competitive with other nations. The Gates...
View ArticleDoes choice create quality?
Accountability doesn’t mean “government-imposed standards and testing” argues an education manifesto signed by leaders of the Cato Institute, the Friedman Foundation, the Heartland Institute, the...
View ArticleDuncan calls for teacher followership
Ed Secretary Arne Duncan’s Teach to Lead initiative is really a call for teacher followership, writes Rick Hess. . . . it’s good to see Duncan talking explicitly about the need for teachers to play a...
View ArticleTalking back to Bill Gates
In The Education of Mr. Gates, Ze’ev Wurman, a former Education Department official, responds to Bill Gates’ defense of Common Core standards at the American Enterprise Institute.| Gates: So a bunch...
View ArticleThe 2 little words Obama won’t say
President Obama likes to talk about new education standards, but there are two little words he won’t say, writes Rebecca Klein on the Huffington Post. He never says “Common Core.” She’s got the videos...
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Core English in action
At a Florida middle school, the Common Core doesn’t just mean new standards, educators believe. It calls for”a package of teaching techniques – such as students working in small and large groups,”...
View ArticleIndiana pulls out of Common Core
Four years after adopting Common Core standards, Indiana has become the first state to withdraw. However, critics complain the state-designed “college and career readiness” standards are “too similar...
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Core in the classroom: Write and cite
Common Core has students writing and citing “textual evidence,” reports Sarah Carr for the Hechinger Report. BELLE CHASSE, La. — In the early elementary school grades, Zachary Davis and his classmates...
View ArticleOh, yeah, it’s the loneliness
“What enemies of a Common Core — by any name — have come to fear is really loneliness, writes Jennifer Finney Boylan in a New York Times commentary. It’s the sadness that comes when we realize that our...
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Standards circus: Who’s the clown?
An “ideological circus” is burying the “sensible idea” of common standards in “hysterical claims and fevered accusations,” writes David Brooks. (Beware of mixed metaphors and “descending” circuses.)...
View ArticlePetrilli talks Common Core
Mike Petrilli of Fordham talks about Common Core standards on C-SPAN. Russo’s favorite line: Petrilli says Education Secretary Arne Duncan has “some sort of Tourette Syndrome” when he mentions Common...
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