Susan Ochshorn tells the back story on her early childhood education blog. Angie Sullivan, a teacher of grades K-2 in Nevada, is upset because Lucy Calkins is supporting the Common Core. Angie is weeping for the children. She wrote a letter to Lucy Calkins, whose Writers Workshop she admires.
She writes:
There is one Common Core writing standard for kindergarten students in Las Vegas: write a fact and opinion paper.
Yep.
And that is all.
Children who have never picked up a pencil have one global standard: write a paper.
I’m weeping as I read through these pages in your book (up to 13)—as you describe fine-tuning your research, somehow expressing a loving Common Core at the same time.
I’m having a very difficult time thinking that something as beautiful, powerful, and developmentally appropriate as Writer’s Workshop can work smoothly with the terribly inappropriate, developmentally gross Common Core. I appreciate that this program is your best attempt to fill in the holes with solid examples and sample lessons, but as a professional educator, I question why we would accept this solution. While Common Core meets the needs of a few, in my experience, it ensures the failure of many.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I think there is enough evidence available to expect that a professional in early childhood education would reject Common Core standards. If the professional is supporting Common Core, that professional deserves to be called out by his/her peers. If that professional does not cease to support the inappropriate education practices/standards, that professional deserves to be shunned.
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Here’s a long (very long) post I did about another Common Core backer, Campbell Brown, and her hypocrisy regarding Common Core curriculum and testing. Like so many other corporate reformers, she’s being paid huge money to advocate that Common Core curriculum and testing be shoved down the throats of students and parents, yet when it comes to her own children, she “opts out” by sending them to a rich kids’ private school. Since this is an option that most parents can’t afford, they and their kids are stuck with Common Core, like it or not.
Okay, so the unqualified, non-teacher David Coleman and his equally unqualified, non-teacher fellow co-creators of Common Core think that novels, plays, poems, short stories, etc. are all a waste of time, and will not prepare future workers with the dry, boring skills they will need to take their place as drones or cogs in the nation’s economy?
Well, the litmus test for all this nonsense is…. are the children of the 1% going to get Coleman’s Common Core shoved down their throats as well?
Let’s answer that question:
Chicago Lab School—where Obama’s, Duncan’s, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s kids attend (and btw, where my nephew and niece attended… my niece was a classmate of Malia’s prior to Malia’s dad’s change in job & residencey 😉 )
ANSWER: NO
Lakeside School—where Bill Gates’ kids attend
ANSWER: NO
Sidwell Friends School—where Obama’s kids attend after moving to D.C.
ANSWER: NO
Harpeth Hall—where Michelle Rhee and ex-husband Kevin Huffman’s daughters attend
ANSWER: NO
The private Montessori School that former N.Y. State Ed. Commisioner John King sends his kids
ANSWER: NO (King claimed otherwise, but that claim has since been debunked)
Heschel School—where Campbell Brown’s kids attend
ANSWER: NO
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The last example is particularly galling, as Mrs. Brown-Senor writes vicious attacks on Common Core opponents like the following:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/political-attacks-on-common-core-are-driven-by-pandering/2015/02/27/bfbf9f80-bad8-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html?postshare=4201425094031685
———————
CAMPBELL BROWN:
“Let’s be clear about what Common Core is. It spells out what students should know at the end of each grade. The goal is to ensure that our students are sound in math and literacy and that our schools have some basic consistency nationwide. But the standards do not dictate a national curriculum, and teachers are not told how or what to teach.
“The unpopularity of the initiative with segments of the public has been caused by rough implementation in some states and the tests linked to the standards. That frustration is legitimate and can be addressed. But abandonment of the initiative for political reasons is craven…
“Education never quite gets the attention it deserves in presidential campaigns, but monster flip-flops surely do. So here’s some advice for people running for office: If you want to campaign against core standards, perhaps you should try having core standards of your own first.”
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Really Campbell? So what standards and testing do you have for your own children?
According the Mercedes Schneider, you send your kids to a private Jewish school with A CURRICULUM, STANDARDS, AND TESTING THAT IS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO COMMON CORE.. AND NO STANDARDIZED TESTING OF ANY KIND UNTIL HIGH SCHOOL
The Abraham Joshua Heschel School
http://www.heschel.org/
The Abraham Joshua Heschel School: Mission
from the link immediately above:
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HESCHEL:
“In an open and engaging academic setting, the school’s curriculum interweaves the best of both Jewish and general knowledge and culture throughout the school day.
“The school’s approach to education is governed by profound respect for students. It nurtures their curiosity, cultivates their imagination, encourages creative expression, values their initiative and engenders critical thinking skills. The school is committed to development of the whole child and supports each student’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical and spiritual growth. In addition, the school seeks to create an environment that encourages the professional and personal growth of teachers, administrators, and staff.
“Among the Central goals of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School are the following:
“Fostering a lifelong love of learning. The school seeks to develop the understanding that the discovery of personal meaning and the growth of individual identity can emerge from the rigors of study.
“Creating an environment of intellectual challenge and academic excellence.
“Creating an ethical learning community that inspires its students to become responsible, active, compassionate citizens and leaders in the Jewish and world communities.
“Cultivating the spiritual lives of its students and the nurturing of their commitment to Jewish values. The school helps students learn about and respect a range of Jewish practices and encourages them to embody these traditions in the way they live their lives; students learn the skills that enable them to participate fully in Jewish life.
“Building of bridges between different sectors of the Jewish community, and between the Jewish community and other communities, as expressions of our religious imperative to unite human beings through justice, shared humanity and mutual respect.
“Fostering in its students a deep commitment to and a lifelong relationship with the State of Israel and its language, culture and people, in recognition of the centrality of the State of Israel to Jewish identity and to the Jewish people.”
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Here’s more of what you can get at Heschel—a comprehensive Arts Curriculum—
one that is impossible at public schools thanks to so much its funding going to Pearson and the other Common Core-related vendors:
http://www.heschel.org/page.cfm?p=1130
From the link above:
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The Arts at Heschel
“As students are exposed to a multitude of media in their daily lives, art courses can help them navigate the unfolding context of contemporary culture and technology in order to understand and find meaning in the possibilities through creating and analyzing.
“The Visual Arts department is rooted in the school’s vision that the discovery of personal meaning and the growth of individual identity can emerge from the rigors of study, of student centered inquiry and the development of a sensitive eye, a discerning mind and skillful hand.
“Music as non-verbal expression continues to say something universal, essential, and native to even the humblest of involved seekers. Music education, therefore, must stand alone as an important and necessary part of the total learning and growing process.”
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And here’s what happens at Heschel in Grades 1-5 (i.e. “Lower School”) :
The Abraham Joshua Heschel School: Lower School
http://www.heschel.org/page.cfm?p=16
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Lower School
“It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Heschel Lower School. We hope you will learn about our philosophy and curriculum. If you have additional questions after you have read through the website, please contact us.
“The Lower School comprises grades 1-5 and offers a rich and rigorous curriculum in both general and Judaic studies. Every part of the school day is planned to offer each student a challenging, well-supported, and nurturing environment. Our highly qualified and enthusiastic faculty brings the curriculum to life through analysis of text, thoughtful discussion, projects, and field trips.
“In all areas, the emphasis is on thinking and questioning. Jewish traditions form the basis for teaching ethical values and the imperative to treat others as we would like to be treated.
“As you walk through the Lower School, you will see children happily engaged. The classrooms and hallways are alive with students learning, studying, singing, praying, and playing with joy. You will learn a great deal about us from our website, and we hope you will schedule a visit to experience the spirit of our faculty and students.”
Dina Bray
Lower School Head
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Does that sound like David Coleman’s “no-one-cares-what-students-think” Common Core currriculum?
Cambpell, in effect, you spend tens of thousands of dollars of money to make sure that your own children are, figuratively speaking, kept as far away from Common Core as your money can manage:
Check out these costs:
http://www.heschel.org/page.cfm?p=232
According to the above link, this is what Campbell pays
FOR EACH CHILD (she has 2 or 3… I forget):
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Tuition for the 2014-2015 school year is as follows:
N $26,125
PK $35,775
K $36,050
1 $37,425
2 $37,425
3 $38,150
4 $38,150
5 $38,150
6 $38,800
7 $38,800
8 $38,800
9 $39,650
10 $39,650
11 $39,650
12 $40,225
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Campbell, since you think Common Core is so great, I’m sure that you and/or your husband have stormed into the offices of the administrators of your Heschel, and demanded they implement Common Core standards, curriculum, and testing forthwith… with threats to remove your kids if this doesn’t occur?
Well, we all know that ain’t gonna happen.
So in short, the opinion of Obama, Rhee, Huffman, Duncan, John King, and Campbell Brown: “Common Core rules!!! Just keep it the-hell away from my own kids.”
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Awesome takedown.
As long as it is, this should be posted all over the place. Maybe a series of billboards. Times Square. L.A.’s boulevards.
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The ones that don’t support the core are far more likely to be fired than for the sycophants to be shunned. The supporters have the ear of administration, the rest of us are the insubordinate irritants of reform administration. That is why I am leaving the profession soon. On an aside to Angie, I have seen interviews with Lucy Calkins in which she infers that her workshop is there for use when the common core collapses, and hints that she does think it (common core) will be rejected. I would rather she were a vocal critic as Louisa Moats became after seeing her work twisted and distorted. The Core must go…..Perhaps Calkins suffers from Cognitive Dissonance.
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Susan Ochshorn has a book coming out next week:
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Lucy Calkins’s widely-adopted writing workshop is a large, profitable commercial enterprise financed by various authorities who run school districts, boards of education, parents associations, foundations, and building-level administrations–the people who sign off on the invoices and checks and approve in-service consultants, materials and PD for teachers. For Calkins to come out explicitly against standardization in Common Core and PARCC/SBAC means risking the commercial enterprise because she would have to take a position in conflict with pro-testing, pro-CCSS authorities now in control of govt at all levels and in charge of districts and schools at all levels, the very people who now sign off on the checks. Such opposition in the name of children’s learning and teacher practice requires at her level of visibility and success a good deal of courage and risk. The parent opt-out movement is not a commercial operation or an authorized opposition; volunteer parents at local levels join to protect their kids from testing abuse and standardized curricula. They have been joined in this opposition by teachers taking risks locally with wildcat strikes not approved by their union leaders, and by student walk-outs not approved by school or district administrators. Scholar-entrepreneurs like Calkins and scholars-policy wonks like Linda Darling-Hammond, and teacher union presidents like Weingarten and Eskelsen who covet their insider seats at the table of power, will not join opt-out parents, walk-out students, or wildcat teachers in the fight to save public education from privatization. However, the tide is turning against CCSS, PARCC/SBAC, and the TFA/privatization/looting of public school districts, so when this privatizing war on public education is finally defeated, insiders sitting out the war or protecting their positions, will very likely come out smiling and posing with whoever comes out the winner down the road.
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Lucy Calkins is right up their with Danielson… love the term edupreneur as it describes these two exactly!!! I have no “love affair” with writer’s workshop as I saw how detrimental it was many years ago to the English language learners using it. Maybe the real problem with it was that it WAS FORCED on teachers to teach this methodology at the exclusion of all else in their possible repertoire. In this age of the edupreneur too many school districts buy into the one-size-fits all models with programs like these two create. They get rich and the professionalism of teaching goes down the drain (a teacher’s ability to pick and choose methodologies that work best for their kids in front of them)!
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AMEN, Ira.
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Is this interpretation that the Common Core expects Kindergarten students to write a fact and opinion paper widespread? It is not our local expectation for Kindergarten students and I don’t see it in the standards.
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My child had to write fact and opinion papers.
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/K/
Text Types and Purposes:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.1
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
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Asking a child to represent their favorite something (pet, book, food, play activity) with a picture and a name or a few words (child may be able to write their name, but tells the rest to an adult who assists them with forming the words) is what I have seen happening in Kindergarten. That is an opinion “text” but I would not call that a paper, although it is meaningful to the child and they take pride in their thoughts going to paper.
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My child didn’t meet the fact standard because he didn’t include/tell enough facts.
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Representing their thoughts on paper should the important part of this goal, not meeting a preconceived number of facts on a rubric. I’m sorry to hear that your son experienced this because developmental writing should provide the child with a sense of accomplishment instead of feedback that their story was somehow incomplete.
I know that sometimes class size and supervising student behavior precludes this, but this often involves the child discussing their story or thinking with an adult. If there is a wish for the student to include more facts or detail, the teacher could work that in to the conversation. “What is another thing your dog likes to do?” “What did Jack do after he climbed the beanstalk?” Asking a child to write a story independently in Kindergarten where they would receive grading feedback on their degree of detail or how many facts they included doesn’t sound developmentally appropriate to me.
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Oh my.
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Lucy Calkins reading and writing program is the absolute WORST thing that has ever happened to NYC schools!
Phonics, grammar, punctuation, spelling, basics, etc GONE. Please spare me the nonsense there’s a unit on those things or it’s weaved into all units. BS!!
Oh, that’s right….kids need to not be stifled by those things to be creative. Kids working with partners and groups most of the workshop. Blind leading the blind
Hey Lucy….Turn and talk about what I just said.
CALKINS IS A PROFITEERING PHONY
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“Liared Onions”
Lots of opinions
But not one fact
Liared Onions
Reformster act
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