Common Core, China, and the Myth of Meritocracy
We all know that the chief arguments for the Common Core revolve around making our workforce "more competitive," by "raising the bar" to "global standards."
A few weeks ago, Diane Ravitch posed this very important question. "What happens to kids who don't graduate?" She wrote:
What exactly is the point of making tests so "hard" that only 30% or 40% or maybe 50% can pass them? What will happen to those who never get a diploma? Do we really want to manufacture failure, knowing that those who fail will be those who already have the fewest advantages in life? As we follow this path, what kind of a society will we be 10 years from now?
While the rhetoric of the reformers always insists that when we raise the bar, everyone somehow manages to rise to the challenge. But the results are likely to be quite different, in my opinion. We have already seen the proportion of students passing Common Core tests drop to around 31% in New York, with officials reacting with gladness, as this proves how "rigorous" their system has become. And this leads me to wonder what is underneath this urgent push to make it harder to get a high school diploma - and to tie that diploma to achievement on ever more difficult tests.
