Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Common Core Education Standards and Assessments Discussed at Hultgren Seminar
At Congressman Randy Hultgren's
“Common Core Summit” there were three people critiquing the new educational standards adopted by the Illinois State Board of
Education in 2010 and one in favor.
The outspoken proponent was conservative think tank Fordham
Institute Executive Vice President Mike Petrilli. He was paired with
Illinois Association of School Boards Deputy Execute Director Ben
Schwarm on the proponent side of the room, but Petrilli seemed pretty lonely
during most of the presentation.
In any event, Petrilli, who served in
the George W. Bush Administration, offered this challenge:
“I dare you to find one [standard]
that you disagree with.”
(Link to the English standards here. Link to the math standards here. On the right hand side of the page under “Standards” one can find four appendices, three for English and one for math.)
He said that Illinois' mid-1990's
standards were weak and the Common Core replacements were stronger.
He bemoaned math standards that had
high school graduates having to take remedial courses in junior college.
Bob Bowdon, Executive Director of
Choice Media, who directed the movie “The Cartel” about the
education industry in New Jersey, and Erin Raasch, founder of
StopCommonCause.org, composed the avowed opponents to Common Core.
While most attention has been paid to
the Standards, all seemed leary that the Assessment portion of the
program could end up causing unintended consequences.
Bowdon attacked the top down model,
arguing that “centralization” would limit competition when
innovation in education was flourishing in various states,e.g., 90%
of schools in New Orleans are charter schools.
“Why would you want national
standards?”
Raash attacked false advertising by
proponents.
She pointed particularly to the claim
that the Standards had been “Internationally benchmarked.”
She said the national web site had
taken down that claim.
When I looked at the ISBE web site, I
found the claim at the bottom of the page.
Raasch agreed on the threat to
competition.
“They're forgetting about market
forces. Common Core will destroy school choice.”
No one seemed to have an answer to
where adequate funds would be found to allow all students to take
Assessment tests simultaneously on computers.
Petrilli pointed out that three
approaches tried so far to improve education had not worked:
- Putting a lot of money in
- Certifying teachers
- Lowering classroom size
Dr. Suzie Morrison Deputy Illinois Superintendent of Education since 2007 gave a history of Common Core in Illinois, stressing that it resulted from state superintendents coming together and deciding that working together on new standards made more sense than each of them doing it separately.
She said the new standards are "fewer, clearer and expectations are higher."
Petrilli revealed that Illinois' old standards had been graded "D" for reading and math, while the new one for English got a "A-" and the new math standard received an "A-."
Bruno Behrend, Executive Director of For the Good of Illinois and a Senior Fellow for Education Policy at the Heartland Institute, moderated the affair.
A couple of hundred people attended the McHenry County College even. From the audience reaction, I concluded that the majority were questioning the new standards.
# posted by Cal Skinner : 9:53 PM
