Robert D. Shepherd answers a fundamental question about the Common Core:
“Question: What should we have instead of a single set of mandatory standards for all?
“Answer: Competing, voluntary standards that can serve as guidelines to be followed, or not, by independent, site-managed schools in which teachers make their own decisions about what should be taught, when, and to whom.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The more “site managed” the school, the more pressure there will be to allow families to choose a school. I don’t think you can have one without the other.
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And the better all schools will be. Schools cannot be effectively managed from afar, and that includes issues pertaining to curriculum. Whatever “state standards” exist should be suggested guidelines, not rigidly enforced and tested standards.
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The more site managed the school, the more local involvement there will be, partially (though not completely) decreasing local parents’ desire for alternatives, though there should be alternatives, of course–trade-oriented schools, private schools, magnet schools, etc. But there is no substitute for a healthy, locally managed public school system such as we have had for much of our history. This system, for all its faults, has been and continues to be one of the glories of the world, and it’s sickening to have it be continually trashed in the media and by reformers who know little about that of which they speak with such blithe authority.
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If there are many alternatives, would that result in a school system that more resembles one made up entirely of charter like schools rather than traditional zoned schools systems where each school admits all and only from their geographic catchment area?
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How about individualized, differentiated, nuanced learning goals, mediated by teachers, that adapt to students’ needs, rather than insisting that students adapt to rigid standards imposed by impersonal corporations and institutions that don’t know them at all?
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Can you imagine a school where every student had an individualized education plan and an annual meeting with teachers, advisors, administrators, parents, and the student to discuss their progress and create goals. Additional meetings if the child was having problems in school.
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Utopia. Money. Time. Space. We don’t like our costs for medical care. We complain all the time. When you have a pool of informed people to individually care for someone, the costs add up. But, with education, no one is interested. Maybe what we need is education insurance policies that cover the costs of all these prescriptive needs. Would we want to pay for this? Probably not. Not if it (as all insurance does) pools the money so those with the most need are served and those who are lucky enough not to be sick help pay. Hmm. Wonder what could be done.
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That is exactly how I put it when I teach about various social support programs. We ensure against many adverse events, but are not able to ensure against the circumstances in which we are born.
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I can imagine it, but I suspect that achieving it would require students to pick from an a variety of courses, some that may be taught in the school, some perhaps at other schools others taught on line. At the high school level, at least, it would not look at all like traditional zoned high schools.
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How can “reformers” push CCSS while at the same time zealously promoting choice? The cognitive dissonance is dizzying.
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Precisely, Alan! You hit the nail on the head. It’s mind-boggling.
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Having weak standards in elementary school gives students no chance in high schools or colleges with normal to high standards. Hello Illinois.
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I think that is a valid concern. There should probably be some sort of common core among schools do students can be successful when the move from school to school or state to state.
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If the implication is that teachers make all the decisions at public schools, to what extent is that about collective bargaining in those districts encumbered by it…and further, as a parent, I want to be involved as a partner in planning, policy and shared decision making…and not so often the afterthought that public school families appear to be.
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Individual state standards . They worked . Students need to be accountable to their learning . Effective leadership who listens land supports teacher. This would work !!!
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I would add.. in partnership with the community in which they teach.
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Yes. Yes. Yes. The other essential component.
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Student-centered and teacher-driven is always better than top-down.
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I think of it as having the same standards for Einstein, Mozart, Georgia O’Keefe, Josh Groban, Maria Tallchief, Guy Fioretti, and Barbra Steisand. Were they all talented in reading, math, science, writing, and social studies? Were their talents honored or ignored? If teachers do not cast them all into one mold we are now labeled as failure and fired when isn’t the opposite of what we need in society?
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Literacy might be a good place to start a discussion about the abilities everyone should take away from k12 education.
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Indeed. Kids differ. Teachers understand this. The politicians, pundits, and plutocrats seem not to.
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If we cold set our standards based on what our students at our school needs, real learning would be able to take place and the kids who these days are so frustrated and are at the highest risk of dropping out when they are old enough wouldn’t end up in that situation. We’d likely actually be graduating students who are college/career ready.
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We used to have benchmarks for each grade level which we used to see if the student was progressing. Each grade level got together to create these realistic goals.
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