Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Common Core, the New Coke of Education Reforms

I think one of the big problems with common core is the scope of it. We are going to totally change everything that we do and on a little more than a whim. What if we spend billions of dollars and then five years from now somebody says, oops, man we got that one wrong. Let’s face it Florida hasn’t done well on reinventing education, charters, vouchers, A-F grading scale, merit pay anyone?

I am also reminded of the recent Advanced Placement scandal. For the last decade kids unprepared for them were thrown in those classes because of some anecdotal evidence that said it would improve their lives. Well after a decade we now know that wasn’t true and in many ways prevented kids form getting the skills they needed.

I have other concerns, increased testing, the hit schools will initially take will energize the privatization crowd and all the resources siphoned out of the classroom, but mostly nobody really knows if this is the best thing since sliced bread or if it is new coke.

Why don’t we slow down and get it right or make sure it is right anyways. Carvalho in Miami seems to love it, why don’t we put it there for three years and see if it works before we blow up what we have now.

Is it too much to ask that we get things right?