An article appeared in a British newspaper claiming that such books as “Catcher in the Rye” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” will be dropped from the curriculum because of the Common Core standards.
Says the Daily Telegraph: “Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California’s Invasive Plant Council.”
I don’t think any of this is true, but there is only one person who can stop the nonsense, and that is David Coleman. Coleman was in charge of the development of the standards. He is now president of the College Board.
It was Coleman who decided that our students are not reading enough “informational text,” and too much fiction.
I don’t know of any national standards that set an arbitrary ratio of 50-50 or 70-30.
No standards are written in stone. They must evolve to reflect reality and wisdom.
Please, David, make a strong and unequivocal statement.
Abolish those arbitrary quotas for nonfiction and fiction.
They make no sense and they are becoming a national–and yes–an international embarrassment.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The only problem I foresee is that David doesn’t really give a $hit what we all think. He was made the decider by Bill and they are NOT to be questioned, especially by the front line workers…the peon teachers. But they don’t control our minds. Time to be subversive.
And these folks themselves owe their own success in part to the rich, broad education they received, an education that no doubt included a great deal of the best literature. Coleman was once a Classicist, yes? The Greeks and Romans must be rolling in their graves. Or howling at the shores of Styx, as the case may be.
Agreed, Linda. I am not worried about teaching a 50-50 mix. I’ll choose which books are best for my young readers. David Coleman is not the end-all and be-all of education.
Oh, David Coleman is speaking out, Diane, but as you might suspect, it isn’t what we want to hear.
http://press.collegeboard.org/releases/2012/college-board-president-david-coleman-delivers-keynote-address-brookings-institution
And Ohanian’s analysis http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=381
David Coleman’s speech of his rationale for mandating more non fiction within the Common Bores was shown to our staff of teachers about a year ago. The sinking feeling in my stomach at his words is still with me today. You have zeroed in on what is wrong with his notion…arbitrariness. Who the hell does he think he is? Self righteous ignoramus!
Well Diane, as you know, David Coleman has said that English classes today focus too much on self-expression. According to a recent NY Times article, Coleman says “It is rare in a working environment that someone says, ‘Johnson, I need a market analysis by Friday but before that I need a compelling account of your childhood”. How do you expect him to defend these claims.
I’m all for using good nonfiction narratives to informatively educate children but we still need to help youngsters with self-expression and with exploring whatever it is they may be passionate about reading.
His own self-expression needs to be curbed before he expresses it in public.
Oh, he’s speaking out, Diane, but as you might suspect his words show his true colors. http://press.collegeboard.org/releases/2012/college-board-president-david-coleman-delivers-keynote-address-brookings-institution
and an important analysis from Susan Ohanian @susanoha
http://www.susanohanian.org/core.php?id=381
My fave quote, or I should say, the quote which disgusts me the most is: “If you put something on an assessment in my view you are ethically obligated to take responsibility that kids will practice it 100 times.”
So, if “it” is on the new Common Core exams that are being foisted upon public schools, Coleman expects us to teach to the test and leave other untested books, materials and ideas/ideals by the wayside.
Meanwhile, Coleman is laughing all the way to the bank. Follow the money.
100 times? ONE HUNDRED TIMES?! Let’s fallaciously presume, for a moment, that Coleman (et al.) is correct. How am I and my kids to find the time to practice ANYthing 100 times when we are testing 15 – 20 days a school year? Egads.
It’s all about rigor! Rigor: n., stiffness, inflexibility, strictness, austerity, sternness. Gee, all really quality characteristics in life, don’t ya think? And certainly the kinds of values we want out children to learn in school. Clearly, in order to get into a college or workforce of their desire, they must attain all of those attributes to do so. Ignoramuses are ruling over those of us who know better. Once we stand up and speak up that we’re not going to comply with this idiotic mandate/initiative or whatever the hell it is, the sooner the lunatics will move on down the road to feast on the next victims instead of our schools.
My plan is to make the argument that literary texts ARE informational texts, and to keep doing what I (as a trained and seasoned educational professional) think is best.
Everything I know about whaling is from Moby Dick. Everything I know about beekeeping is from Vergil’s Fourth Georgic. And so forth.
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
–Ray Bradbury
This poster is in our classroom and has been since I began teaching. I will have to order more, I suppose.
We need to write Coleman and ensure that there are no non-fiction books or their referrals to are included in the SAT
Or the AP tests. These fictional texts are referred to all the time in “informational,” historic documents. Without Shakespeare, for example, a lot of the references in historic documents make no sense.
What really bothers me is that Coleman insists that students analyze text without any reference to outside information–that the only “correct” answers come ONLY from the text itself. But the writers of those texts use background information like crazy, but we can’t expect our students to do the same? It’s ridiculous!
Diane, don’t you know that “university professors” demanded more informational text in the Common Core, according to Gene Wilhoit? Perhaps someone should ask him to identify who these university professors were. Can someone also look into who chose Coleman, someone with no educational experience, to devise the standards for the nation?
Coleman/Gradgrind and his “facts” are here to stay since the Common Core enjoys bipartisan billionaire support. I think that this current atmosphere so eerily reminiscent of Dickens’ prophetic “Hard Times” might actually spur some great fiction writing since it is becoming a subversive activity to publicly endorse the reading, enjoyment, and the importance of fiction for living a well-rounded life. That can only lead to inspired fiction writers fighting back through great writing.
I also think that Coleman will ultimately experience Gradgrind’s shocking realization that he was wrong on all counts. The decimation and damage left in the wake of this folly will be overwhelming and beyond sad, however, but it is all of a piece with “Right to Work” laws and the fashionable fairy tale obsession with austerity and fake fiscal cliffs. The profitizing of life, as it were. Are we doomed yet?
I had a conversation with Mr. Coleman about a year ago as part of a small group of superintendents when he was stumping for the common core. I came away from the session with the belief he was a narrow minded idealogue with no interest in any other point of view. A leopard does not change his spots and as another said earlier, follow the money.
He seems to have much in common with Gates..they appoint themselves experts with no experience, they don’t listen to anyone else, they surround themselves with sycophants and they have poor social skills. Could two guys with Asperger’s tendencies be running our schools?
The irony of that is too delicious to ignore. My analysis is that those furthest from the client believe they know what’s best for that client. The pyramid is inverted so that the widest is at the top and the vertex of the other two sides is at the bottom. Top heavy with ignorant pundits, self proclaimed experts, money holders and other non essential admins trickle down their theories to the students, teachers and parents at the bottom. Guess what? The upsidedown pyramid is getting wobbly, folks! W a i t f o r i t….to fall one day. Can’t balance forever like that. The support should be at the wide bottom and waiting until we ask for their help. Until then, shuffle the legal papers, man the phones, provide backup subs, fill any void of assistance the teachers may need. Gee, guess we really don’t need all those positions, do we? I can do my teaching job w/o the admins offices meddling at all from afar. In fact, their only way of seeming to be needed is to invent new theories, mandates and curriculum projects for us teachers to take on. Their positions are only justified by what they create for us to do. Amazing.
Mr. Coleman is intelligent and articulate, but he is at the very same time, narrow minded and rigid. His dogmatic prescription for fiction/non fiction proportions is ignoring what it really means to be a great reader, a passionate reader, and a critical thinker. The fact that informational text is so emphasized is like saying that your only academic worth lies in if you excel at such a genre, and that fictional or more theatrical text renders you less cognitively developed.
This is clearly a cookie cutter style of education, and it offers no real choice for students to decide what they are passionate about in reading. The true ability of a nation to compete globally in the economy is not a measure of technical non-fiction knowledge or imaginative novels. .. it lies in the degree of reading acumen, applicative thinking, analytical ability, and even the preferences and passions of the reader, from nursey school to graduate school. The genre is not as important. Strong reading is strong reading.
Mr. Coleman’s craftsmanship of the CCS is untested and not very reserach based at all. It’s far more philosphical than empirical, and he is increasingly exhbiting hostile, if not arrogant and sniveling attitudes to any train of thought other than his own.
It’s too bad. I used to be a real fan of his, but I am compelled to see him more and more as someone whose rigidity and locked ears are eating quickly into his credibility. . .. faster than an acid bath.
But don’t just point fingers at him. He is enjoying his time in the sun . . . Look to those who defer to him and employ him. . . . .