Agreed. I’ve been told over and over again that this train has left the station. That’s tough to hear. However, the standards themselves are pretty benign or harmless, really. I’ve read them and honed specifically on fifth grade because that’s where I have the most experience. Nothing earth shattering. It’s what will be done with them that could be the problem. If you backward map from a test, then teaching to the test is all that you will ever get. At the same time, I’ve been told that with good standards and good tests, it shouldn’t matter how much teaching you do to it because it’s a worthwhile goal in and of itself. But there is so much that’s good about teaching and education that allows for creativity, individual judgment, improvisation, and pursuing topics of interest. Even now, without the Core, folks feel restricted and limited. With a Core, of which teachers will be held more strictly accountable based on test scores, teaching to a test and narrow set of metrics will continue unabated.
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Stopping the gears of “edreform”
It’s very difficult to not get divided, as I can see the conversation occurring over at Schools Matter. I personally have no qualms with the status of one member that is in question. I don’t know, that organization (SOS) has dealt with so much drama since its inception, can it ever go on without it?
Just to be clear, my main point was not that the Common Core is a fait accompli that we should just accept passively. By all means, we should be critical and resist it, as far as we are able. But there are some people who are going after others in our movement on the basis that some of their work is related to the Common Core. I am saying we should not allow ourselves to be divided in this way. We are building a movement here, and we need to be inclusive of as many people as possible, so long as they are willing to stand with us in opposition to high stakes testing.