Is the Common Core Becoming a Fiasco?
After listening to one of my favorite episodes of This American Life, devoted to the concept of fiasco, I am wondering if perhaps what we have with high stakes testing and the Common Core project is a fiasco on a grand scale.
To begin, let's review the core elements of a fiasco, according to This American Life host Ira Glass.
The fiasco begins with a grand idea, planned with a bold vision. People set their sights on a goal beyond any they have ever achieved before. They look at failed efforts of the past, attempted by lesser beings, and decide that nobody before was as smart or capable, or felt the urgency they possess. The fiasco thus begins with high hopes and bold projections. But things do not go as planned.
The first story in the Fiasco episode tells the story of an ill-fated production of Peter Pan. On this occasion, an amateur production goes awry when those operating the wired flying apparatus are unable to control the actors, who careen wildly about, crashing into the set. The audience, at first breathless and sympathetic, begins to realize this is no ordinary performance, and loses their ability
