I kept hearing the same phrase used over and over again about the Common Core standards: don’t complain, the train is leaving the station, and you don’t want to be left behind. It is inevitable. Then one of the readers of the blog, noting this cliche, wrote, “I didn’t know the train was IN the station, how could it be leaving?”
At some point, as the volume of complaints got louder, and as states announced they were dropping the standards or the tests or both, the narrative began to shift. That sense of inevitability disappeared, and the nation seemed to go into a period of watching to see which state would pull out next.
Fortunately, Mercedes Schneider has been keeping count. Here is her latest summary of the slow dissolution of the Common Core.
In case you didn’t know it, Schneider just spent this summer (which is barely half over) writing a book about the Common Core. We will wait to hear more about publisher and publication date. Let’s just say she may be the fastest, most prolific writer in our field.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The difference between the rhetoric of the “reformers” and those calling them to account is painfully obvious. When I read the blog posts of people like Mercedes Schneider, I find it hard to understand why someone could still in good conscience support the reform agenda. I would like to thank all of those people who have done their homework and presented well researched and documented material. Speaking truth to power is becoming rather a cliched expression, but I so admire those who do it so well.
Back in January an idea was floated to create open-source standards (or should I say objectives) and assessments. Then the AFT talked about grants for teachers to rewrite CCSS, which has many problems. What if we get AFT and the NEA to sponsor a wiki to write new objectives? It seems like a better use of that grant money. We might even try out what we’re proposing before it is implemented.
I believe it was Bob Shepherd on this blog that suggested an open source wiki to rewrite the standards.
Unfortunately our governor in California annouced this week that we are going forward in implementing CC.
Ellen,
Experience is a great teacher.
“Accept it because it’s inevitable” — to borrow a trope from C.S. Lewis, this is like what a cancer would say if it could talk. Look forward to Ms. Schneider’s book.
What candy does Mercedes nibble on while so quickly composing her courageous, comprehensive critiques? Can we send her some red licorice, chocolate covered peanuts, pralines, cinnamon jelly beans, or gummy bears?
Lol Kathy Irwin!! I grade papers with a bag of Lifesavers by my side :P. I would happily send Mercedes some of my stash – or whatever she fancies 😉
Kathy and Katie, thank you for the offer to supply snacks. However, I tend not to snack as I write. I prefer to settle in with something drink– my favorites are hot darjeeling tea, ice coffee with a bit of almond extract, and soda with vanilla extract. 🙂
They must be getting desperate. They are asking for help from higher ed:
http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Must-Help-Further-the/147843/
Colleges Must Help Further the Goals of Common Core Standards, Report Says
By Katherine Mangan
Higher education cannot afford to sit on the sidelines as states and secondary schools devise common standards that seek to define who’s ready for college, according to a report released on Tuesday by the New America Foundation.
The report, “Common Core Goes to College: Building Better Connections Between High School and Higher Education,” calls on colleges and public schools to work together to agree on what it means to be college-ready.
Common Core State Standards in mathematics, writing, and literacy have been adopted by 43 states and the District of Columbia as a way to prepare students for college and the work force. Some states have resisted the standards however, and they remain highly politicized and deeply controversial among educators….
(More at the link)
Thanks for the thorough research.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE STANDARDS! IT’S ABOUT PREMATURE TESTING ALIGNED WITH THE STANDARDS. IT’S ABOUT INSUFFICIENT PREPARATION OF TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS. DON’T LET’S THROW OUT THE CHICK BECAUSE IT DOESN’T LAY EGGS!