The common core: An untried curriculum plus nonstop testing
Sent to the Salt Lake Tribune, March 9, 2014
M. Donald Thomas is right: "Common Core supporters (are) providing misinformation" (March 7). In addition to the points he makes, there are other serious problems.
First, the common core standards are untested. There were no pilot studies.
Second, the common core requires a huge increase in testing; research has indicated that increasing testing does not mean greater achievement.
Also, the new tests will cost a fortune because they must be delivered online. This requires internet access, and up-to-date computers that will be obsolete nearly as soon as they are in use.
The real problem in American education is poverty, not low standards: Our child poverty rate is 23%, second highest in the world among economically advanced countries.
Poverty means, among other things, food deprivation, lack of health care, and little or no access to
