| Rethinking Schools recently ran a piece on Common Core that’s worth reading…
“It isn’t easy to find common ground on the Common Core. Already hailed as the “next big thing” in education reform, the Common Core State Standards are being rushed into classrooms in nearly every district in the country. Although these “world-class” standards raise substantive questions about curriculum choices and instructional practices, such educational concerns are likely to prove less significant than the role the Common Core is playing in the larger landscape of our polarized education reform politics…”
Read more.
And the New York Times ran a piece on how Scottish Schools offer a (maybe) better alternative: Scottish Schools Focus on More than Just Tests. “EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE, Scotland – In this leafy subdivision outside Glasgow, the hallways of Bishopbriggs Academy were buzzing from a production of the musical “Bugsy Malone” that took place the night before. “Inside Kathryn Macleod’s English class, a group of 12-year-olds was watching a clip from the film version of Louis Sachar’s novel “Holes,” paying close attention to the actress Patricia Arquette. After making notes on Ms. Arquette’s character and comparing her performance with the novel, the students each composed a director’s note for the actress. Down the hall, Lauren Neilson’s science students were boiling red cabbage over Bunsen burners as part of a lesson about measuring acidity…” |