common core is not core

As a homeschooling mother and a citizen who attended public schools, I can easily see that one major problem with the Common Core is that it is not a core.  The core was written for the antiquated current operating system: the factory production model. The core is not device-independent. The core doesn't have to be efficient, for example. The committee cannot let go of anything. The core does not revamp coverage and format in any way.

These are fill-in-the-blank standards.  We have 12 years, 180 days. Fill it up. And while a country can do a good job on that (Finland), the massively struggling system in the US really needs an efficient core because many schools need to expand services while conserving resources. Schools need time and space for customization which should proceed from more real choices made by kids and families at every school. Schools could make a run at that with a substantial and efficient core that took less time and allowed for families and kids to make real choices about their time and focus.

A three-hour a day core could allow gardening, bike repair classes, projects in school and in the community, drama, art, math clubs, tech stuff, counseling, group support, teacher support, field trips, time to eat and play, and whole lot of other stuff that research clearly shows helps kids be smart. The way homeschooling families do. Unschoolers are probably right that we do not even need this but schools could transition to deep customization by getting breathing space and efficiency from a core.

A real core would be optional and would let go of stuff and let schools begin supporting and helping families and kids.

Up at the Daily Riff,  this video sums it up and is hilarious. Watch for the iphone designed by ed reform.

Presentation by Paulo Blikstein http://paulo.blikstein.com is Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Education where his research focuses on how new technologies can deeply transform the learning of science, engineering, and mathematics. 




Can You Solve This Puzzle?
On the Common Core Myths vs Facts page,  the Mathematics paragraph does not correlate with the English-language arts paragraph if they were meant to be stylistically related. I am trying to think what would be the equivalent of classic myths, Founding documents, literature and Shakespeare:  maybe geometry, computation, algebra and calculus?

In English‐language arts, the Standards require certain critical content for all students, including: classic myths and stories from around the world, America’s Founding Documents, foundational American literature, and Shakespeare. Appropriately, the remaining crucial decisions about what content should be taught are left to state and local determination. In addition to content coverage, the Standards require that students systematically acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

In Mathematics, the Standards lay a solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. Taken together, these elements support a student’s ability to learn and apply more demanding math concepts and procedures. The middle school and high school standards call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges; they prepare students to think and reason mathematically. The Standards set a rigorous definition of college and career readiness, not by piling topic upon topic, but by demanding that students develop a depth of understanding and ability to apply mathematics to novel situations, as college students and employees regularly do.

Another viewpoint:
Education Reform: An Order-of-Magnitude Improvement | Truthout: 

"It won't. If all the reformers' flawed assumptions are corrected, but the traditional math-science-language-arts-social-studies "core curriculum" remains the main organizer of knowledge, the truck may creep forward a few inches, but it won't take the young where they need to go if we care about societal survival. The mess from this generation's political paralysis and refusal to address looming problems can't be cleaned up using the same education that helped create it."