The Common Core: Are They Even Really Standards?
The original sin, the fatal flaw, the hamartia of the Common Core has been defined, at last, with scientific precision and unimpeachable reference.
Diane Ravitch this morning has revealed the basic accepted process for the setting of national standards, and the process leading to the Common Core violated just about every step.
The origins of the Common Core have been hotly debated over the past couple of years. It is remarkable that something so recently born could still be subject to such a wide variety of birth stories. I wrote last fall:
Perhaps because Common Core standards originated in a secretive process, and were adopted with little public discussion, their origins have become a subject of great interest among educators. As with ancient mythology, we care about where things come from, because the method of creation can reveal the nature of the creator, and the intentions at work.
But the true origins of the Common Core have always been clear, in spite of all the post-hoc arm-waving. I know, because I wrote about the process as soon as it was announced back in July of 2009:
So who makes up the two Work Groups? Of the 25 individuals on the two teams, (four people are on both) six are associated with the test-makers from the College Board, five are with
