General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: On common Core [View all]nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)but Race to the Top, the mid level strategic implementation, and it started well before CC with No Child Left Behind.
And did I mention the curricula and tests are approved at the LOCAL LEVEL by your school board? People should thrown rotten eggs and tomatoes, but not at the targets themselves, but those implementing it. With a few exceptions, most school districts have sucked in implementing any of this, partly out of resistance of change. And this is directly proportional actually to how strong the local teacher unions are. Places with strong unions have had no issues, mostly they already had similar standards. It is places with poor teacher protections and even less investment that are having all kinds of issues, and that is not accidental either.
There are reasons to be critical, but the top level idea that a kid in Honolulu should learn fractions at the same time as a kid in Vermont is not crazy. Before Common Core the difference could be even measured in years. So a kid that moved from Honolulu to Vermont would lose school years. That is a problem. It is a problem as well, when kids in gifted schools, the best and the brightest, are testing at mid point in international tests. We do not challenge our kids enough, and that does not translate to constant testing. But it translates to high academic achievement though, which we are not doing, and that is not good if we are to innovate and remain competitive in a globalized economy.
I will suggest that one reason for the brain drain the US is starting to experience is our substandard educational system and the resistance, in some cases on religious grounds, to change it.