The collapse of test scores in New York State was immediately followed by a ringing endorsement by business leaders. Their statement was assembled by Education Reform Now, a corporate reform group that promotes privatization.
The business leaders, including Joel Klein, are certain that there will be no prepared workers for them to hire without Common Core. How many of them know what the standards are? How many have read them? Since there is no evidence of anything they claim, why are they so adamant?
I have a modest proposal: Everyone who signs a statement endorsing Common Core should take the eighth grade tests in reading and math and publish their scores. These guys are successful. Let’s see if heir scores reflect their life success.
If they believe in the standards, they should give it a try.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Oh, that’s sweet. (I have a modest proposal: Everyone who signs a statement endorsing Common Core should take the eighth grade tests in reading and math and publish their scores.) I rail against politicians who have opinions about technical matters they do not understand. This is exactly the same thing. I second your proposal! Call the question!
I double-second your proposal!
I don’t think we can fairly say that it’s all business leaders.
I think closer examination would show that regressive proposals for education go hand in (invisble) hand with regressive models of business.
Diane:
Great proposal. Your proposal should apply to those who oppose Common Core as well as those who support it. We should all know the details of what we are debating. I have looked at all the available sample items and there is much to be concerned about – particularly the Reading Comprehension items.
Your proposal is also a great way to force Pearson to reveal a complete subset of items and allow for an item analysis.
To put it another way —
There are leaders who lead us forward and there are leaders who lead us backward.
It is only the backward brand of business “leaders” who are trying to sell us backward models of education.
The business leaders here won’t even give interviews to highly educated, articulate , critical thinking graduates. Not sure who they are looking for.
“Everyone who signs a statement endorsing Common Core should take the eighth grade tests in reading and math and publish their scores” I’m not sure about the effectiveness of this measure, because I believe they wouldn’t get good scores in the former tests either.
To hire for what jobs? At what pay? Are we to believe the wealthy corporate/lobbyist reforms folks have a bunch of great jobs just sitting empty because our poorest schools aren’t being tested and shut down fast enough?
That would be great but isn’t the test embargoed by the state? I think that’s all part of the plan. If the public could see the test for themselves ………
The list of business endorsers is sad and sickening. And how many of them know anything about teaching? Maybe we can lobby for a national Know-it-alls-take-the-tests-day. Seriously, you have a great idea–and having leaders step up and volunteer to learn about what happens in our schools–how could they object?
Joel Klein had no trouble finding employees for the Department of Education earning six figures. Those jobs were not outsourced. His boss Rupert Murdoch had no trouble finding people to eaves drop on dead children’s phone calls. Where is this labor shortage?
Agree.
I introduced something similar.
“Public employees and officers; state; requirement for legislators, state board of education members, state superintendent, and the governor to take every required assessment test given to third, eighth, and eleventh graders in Michigan public schools, and publish the results; mandate. Creates new act.”
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2013-HB-4879
All of the Chambers of Commerce in the big cities of Alabama are pushing Common Core. My guess is that they don’t have any idea what the standards are, are unaware that they were not really a states led initiative and are clueless that the claim that the standards are internationally benchmarked is false. They just like the jingle “College and Career Ready”.