Common Core Standards

Question: What are the implications of the Common Core Standards?

 Answer/Quote: “Readers of Language Arts, with relatively few exceptions, are probably familiar with the 2010 Common Core Standards, even if they didn’t follow the story of their development and adoption. [The Common Core Standards were reviewed in this blog from March to July 2010. Simply type in March 2010 in the search in the upper-left-hand corner of the blog to begin the reviews. In general, I was impressed by the standards. RayS. ]

 “That’s because, as of this writing, 42 states, plus Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands—representing around 86% of the students in the US—have adopted the Common Core Standards as either the ‘core’ of their state standards or the entirety of those standards…. Most teachers are therefore aware that these new standards have made a substantial difference in what they are supposed to teach and what students are supposed to know and be able to do by the end of each grade level.

 “Indeed, the adoption of these standards has brought about the most sweeping nationalization of the K-12 curriculum in US history.” P. 38.

Quote: “The main contribution of the CCS (Common Core Standards), the dimension that is new in them, is the shoving down—all the way through the grades to kindergarten—of a restricted image of college or academic literacy.” P. 40.

Comment: In other words, the Common Core Standards make the purpose of K-12 education college. For some educators this is a controversial concept. RayS.

Title: “Relating Policy to Research and Practice: The Common Core Standards.” R Bomer and B Maloch. Language Arts (September 2011), 38-43.