U.S. Standards Initiative Seeks to Equalize Benchmarks - washingtonpost.com:
"The opening of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.' Toni Morrison's 1993 Nobel lecture. Walt Whitman's poem 'O Captain! My Captain!' The Declaration of Independence. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail.'
Those were among a handful of texts chosen to illustrate proposed standards for skills and knowledge that every high school graduate should have in English language arts.
And that should be the cue for another 'great works' debate. Every so often, educators, politicians, parents, students and those who care about schools will tussle over lists of works deemed essential (or not) for a culturally literate young adult. It gets especially fierce when the nation's academic reputation is perceived to be at stake."
"The opening of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.' Toni Morrison's 1993 Nobel lecture. Walt Whitman's poem 'O Captain! My Captain!' The Declaration of Independence. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail.'
Those were among a handful of texts chosen to illustrate proposed standards for skills and knowledge that every high school graduate should have in English language arts.
And that should be the cue for another 'great works' debate. Every so often, educators, politicians, parents, students and those who care about schools will tussle over lists of works deemed essential (or not) for a culturally literate young adult. It gets especially fierce when the nation's academic reputation is perceived to be at stake."