In an opinion article today, a D.C. based writer commends the Common Core, E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge curriculum, and New York’s “EngageNY” modules.

Natalie Wexler maintains that the standardized tests did not cause curriculum-narrowing. She says that schools have long given preference to skills over knowledge. She believes that Common Core will reverse that unwise preference.

I have always preferred a balanced approach that includes both skills and knowledge. I was a member of the board of the Core Knowledge Foundation for many years. I don’t think that the Common Core standards will unleash a fervor for knowledge because it is really just more of the skill-based approach that Wexler decries. Presumably she wants states and districts to adopt the Hirsch Core Knowledge curriculum, as the “EngageNY” modules do. I think she would be wise to read those modules. Teachers and parents have complained about the overload of information in them. 

Here is a selection from the first-grade module. Consider that some first-graders are just learning to read. Few, if any, have a context into which these facts can be assimilated:

Locate the area known as Mesopotamia on
a world map or globe and identify it as part
of Asia;

Explain the
importance of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the use of
canals to support farming and the development
of the city of Babylon;

Describe the city of
Babylon and the Hanging Gardens;

Identify cuneiform as the system of writing used in
Mesopotamia;

Explain why a written
language is important to the development of a
civilization;

Explain the significance of the
Code of Hammurabi;

Explain why rules and laws
are important to the development of a
civilization;

Explain the ways in which a
leader is important to the development of a
civilization;

Explain the significance
of gods/goddesses, ziggurats, temples, and
priests in Mesopotamia;

Describe key
components of a civilization;

Identify Mesopotamia as
the “Cradle of Civilization”;

Describe how a civilization evolves
and changes over time;

Locate Egypt on a world
map or globe and identify it as a part of
Africa;

Explain the importance of the
Nile River and how its floods were important
for farming;

Identify hieroglyphics as the
system of writing used in ancient Egypt;

Explain the significance of gods/goddesses in ancient
Egypt; Identify pyramids and explain their
significance in ancient Egypt;

Describe how
the pyramids were built; Explain that much of
Egypt is in the Sahara Desert;

Identify the Sphinx and explain its
significance in ancient Egypt;

Identify Hatshepsut as a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and
explain her significance as pharaoh;

Identify Tutankhamun as a pharaoh of ancient Egypt
and explain his significance;

Explain that much of what we know about ancient
Egypt is because of the work of
archaeologists

Wexler predicts that the high failure rates on the Common Core tests will lead to a demand by parents for Core Knowledge. Since we know that those failure rates were engineered artificially by setting a ridiculous passing mark aligned with NAEP proficient, it seems safer to predict that continued failure will encourage the growth of the opt out movement.

What do you think?