Critics railing on new "core standards" in education
Core standards proposed for American schools are under attack by critics for once again divorcing content from form.Related Links
Draft Content Standards Elicit Mixed Reviews
“At first glance, these language standards are, despite the brave descriptors, very similar to the dysfunctional state standards already in place,” says E.D. Hirsch, Jr. “Like most state standards, they naively take a formalistic approach to language ability. They assume that the ability to understand literary and informational language is chiefly a how–to skill, whereas it is chiefly a topic-dependent skill that varies with specific topic familiarity.”
The standards are under consideration by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association (NGA). They are in draft form only.
Common Core's Lynne Munson says she doesn't believe the standards are"dead on arrival," but as"they are currently written" the standards"are poised to repeat NCLB’s mistakes. NCLB has failed to increase reading achievement in any sustained way because it has approached reading purely as a skill and driven the study of literature and other core subjects from the classroom. The current draft of the ELA standards also overlooks the key role that substantial content plays in teaching students to read."