Could High Standards Mean the End of Remediation in Higher Ed?
Evidence in Tennessee says yes. Data released this week as part of the Tennessee Higher Education fact book show a significant change in the state’s remediation rates. The percentage of college freshmen who needed math remediation went from 71 percent to 55 percent in the past four years. This means that more students attending higher education...
Common Core and College Preparedness Go Hand in Hand
A recent article published by the Heartland Institute, claims that Common Core has led to a decrease in college readiness and that Common Core is “dumbing-down these colleges.” The article touts a college entrance exam that boasts being “non-Common Core.” This is a misleading claim that actually misses the point of Common Core. Common Core...
The Importance of Algebra: How Common Core Helps Students Build a Strong Understanding of Math
Author and Queens College professor Andrew Hacker suggests college- and career-readiness benchmarks are too high and high schools should remove Algebra as a graduation requirement, Breitbart News reports. “At the very time we should be honing and sharpening quantitative reasoning skills we punch students into algebra, geometry, calculus,” Hacker says. “The Math People take over...
Oklahoma at a Crossroads: Inferior Standards or Back to the Drawing Board?
Even though “it’s hard to tell” whether Oklahoma’s proposed education standards are “good enough,” the Tulsa World editorial board argues that lawmakers should approve the learning goals. They claim that State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister “says it’s time to move forward, and we agree.” Criticism of the new standards, the piece goes further to say, comes...
Common Core’s English and Math Standards Prepare Students to be Good Citizens
Common Core State Standards fail to prepare students to fulfill their civic responsibilities because they are “silent on the skills and knowledge” students need to do so, argues Arnold Packer, a former assistant secretary for labor, in an opinion piece published by Education Week. “Because citizenship is not explicit in the standards for math and...
Correcting the Record: ACT Aspire President Suggests Common Core State Standards Aren’t College- and Career-Ready Enough
In a letter to the Oklahoman, Darice Keating, president of ACT Aspire, writes, “College and career readiness and Common Core State Standards are not the same.” Keating goes further to suggest that unlike consortia tests, “ACT Aspire assessments provide the essential information to help get and keep students on the path toward readiness without wasting...