Common core: An attempt to solve a problem that doesn't exist
No decline in reading
Sent to the Cincinnati Enquirer
The first line of “Common Core a ‘monumental shift’”(April 16, 2013) is not supported by any real data. There is no evidence that “reading has been declining in the nation’s schools for more than two decades.” Students are reading as much as ever. According to my analysis, teenagers today are reading as much as teenagers did in 1999 and in 1946. In addition, reading scores on our national test, the NAEP, have been increasing modestly since 1992.
The Common Core appears to be an attempt to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
Stephen Krashen
Source: Krashen, S. 2011. Why We Should Stop Scolding Teenagers and Their Schools: Frequency of Leisure Reading Language Magazine 11 (4): 18-21.
Original article: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130416/NEWS0102/304160017?nclick_check=1
Sent to the Cincinnati Enquirer
The first line of “Common Core a ‘monumental shift’”(April 16, 2013) is not supported by any real data. There is no evidence that “reading has been declining in the nation’s schools for more than two decades.” Students are reading as much as ever. According to my analysis, teenagers today are reading as much as teenagers did in 1999 and in 1946. In addition, reading scores on our national test, the NAEP, have been increasing modestly since 1992.
The Common Core appears to be an attempt to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
Stephen Krashen
Source: Krashen, S. 2011. Why We Should Stop Scolding Teenagers and Their Schools: Frequency of Leisure Reading Language Magazine 11 (4): 18-21.
Original article: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130416/NEWS0102/304160017?nclick_check=1
Will the common core claim credit for bogus test score improvement?
Sent to the New York Daily News.
We have been told that the new tests based on the common core will result in low scores (“Just what the kids need,” April 15). What has not been mentioned is that new tests typically result in low scores, and then scores rise for the next few years as teachers and students get used to the test format and content, and teachers learn how to teach to the test. This has been confirmed in studies by Prof. Robert Linn of the University of Colorado.
The common core will claim the credit for this bogus “improvement.” The improvement will stop after a few years, but by then the apparent success of the common core will be considered “proven.”
Stephen Krashen
Source: Linn, R., Graue, E., & Sanders, N. 1990. Comparing state and district test results to national norms: The validity of claims that "everyone is above average." Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice 10: 5-14.
Is there really a crisis in science and math education?
Sent to the Austin-American Statesman, April 16, 2013
Lonny Stern’s claim that “Investment in science, math is good business” (April 15) is based on his assertion that there are 2.5 STEM jobs available for every unemployed person.
Mr. Stern may want to consult research done by Rutgers Professor Hal Salzman, who concludes that there are two to three qualified graduates for each science/tech opening: There appears to be surplus, not a shortage, of STEM-trained workers.
Studies have also shown that there is a “PhD glut”: According to the Atlantic (Feb, 2013), the US is producing more Ph.D.s in science than the market can absorb.
Stephen Krashen
Original article: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/opinion/stern-investing-in-science-math-and-engineering-
