Paul Horton: Why the Common Core is Unlike Standards of the Past
Guest post by Paul Horton.
Many defenders of the Common Core call attention to the idea that critics of the Core often focus more on how it is related to other issues like standardized testing and value added teacher assessments. They claim that the Common Core is good practice and should be separated from the other elements of Race to the Top as an exemplary curriculum.
This claim is also advanced with the argument that many states have implemented standards and that these standards are a good idea. They ask, "why not keep the Common Core as shared standards and disconnect them from the other elements of RTTT? Why not slow down and implement them more carefully? Many teachers and parents like the standards, they say, so lets slow down and get more constituents involved in the implementation and allow teachers more of a say in writing and revising a small percentage of the more troublesome elements?"
This sort of thinking is increasingly expressed among Common Core supporters who understand that there was no adequate process involved in their implementation. But the lack of process is