Changes to Eighth-Grade Math Don’t Mean Students Are Learning Less
Many schools are making changes to eighth-grade math, forcing families to “restrain their ambitions and delay algebra until high school,” which Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews calls “inscrutable.” “Parents who need a clear reason for restraining math acceleration in middle school are not getting it,” he adds, suggesting the progression of learning under Common Core...
Setting the Record Straight: Common Core isn’t a test, it’s a set of academic standards.
Time and time again, we’ve seen articles across the country conflate assessments with standards when talking about Common Core. Many outlets last year incorrectly reported parents in New York were “opting out of Common Core,” when in fact, is was the state assessment that they took issue with. Similarly, in this piece, a (hopefully) one-time glitch...
The Value of Assessments: Why opting out isn’t the answer
In a new video by the Network for Public Education, Common Core opponent Diane Ravitch claims student assessments provide “no useful information” about student development. “Opt out is the only way you have to tell policymakers that they’re heading in the wrong direction,” Ravitch alleges in the clip aimed at parents. “The testing is not...
Opting Out Should Raise a Red Flag for Parents
Writing in the Westchester Journal News, Suzanne Coyle, a local parent, urges others to withhold their children from statewide assessments. “Test-based accountability has never been shown to increase academic achievement and there is no evidence that these test scores are predictive of anything,” Coyle claims. But “a focus on test scores narrows the curriculum and...
States Are Free to Choose Their Own Education Standards, Build on Common Core Framework
Writing in the New Boston Post, anti-Common Core critic Sandra Stotsky insists the Every Student Succeeds Act “all but guarantees” states will continue “the lowering of academic standards” through the Common Core. “All that most parents can do henceforth is keep their children home on days when the schools give federal or state mandated tests...
Critics Promulgate Misinformation about Misinformation on Common Core
Writing for the CATO at Liberty blog, Neal McCluskey argues that proponents of the Common Core dismiss opponents “as ignorant, maybe even loony.” A recent Funny or Die video, McCluskey says, is “highly misleading” and put out “misleading and woefully incomplete information.” What McCluskey overlooks is that the video is not mocking parents who care...