Gates Funding Nonprofit to “Review Material for CCSS Alignment”. Can We Stop Pretending There is No Intent for a National Curriculum?
Why are two private foundations funding review of curricula to determine if they align to privately owned and copyrighted Common Core State Standards? Why should schools use their ratings?
It’s looking more likely we are in fact on the road to a nationalized curriculum. Will we now have a privately owned and Gates funded policing agency to determine what curriculum districts should be using to best align to the privately owned and copyrighted Common Core State Standards? From politico.com:
A ‘CONSUMER REPORTS’ FOR THE COMMON CORE: A new nonprofit funded with $3 million from the Gates Foundation and the Helmsley Charitable Trust launches today with plans to review textbooks and other instructional material for fidelity to the Common Core. EdReports.org will start by bringing in teams of classroom teachers to evaluate K-8 math materials. The curricula will be judged by how well it matches the Common Core and assesses student learning and by whether it offers teachers guidance in reaching children at all levels.The group will post its ratings online and invite response from the publishers. Up first: Pearson’s enVision Math, McGraw-Hill’s Everyday Math, Houghton Mifflin’s Go Math and more than a dozen other widely used curricula. EdReports will turn to high-school math and language arts in future years.- The project is led by Eric Hirsch, formerly of the New Teacher Center, and Maria Klawe, the president of Harvey Mudd College. They say they hope districts will turn to their ratings to guide purchases. “Hopefully with great materials, great teachers and great standards, we will be able to move the needle on student achievement,” Hirsch said. Incoming NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia supports the effort; she says curriculum ratings could improve Common Core implementation “by shining a light” on quality materials.
So, once they have this rating system down, schools will know which curricula to pick because they will be rated the highest. They will “shine a light” on quality materials and conversely throw mud Gates Funding Nonprofit to “Review Material for CCSS Alignment”. Can We Stop Pretending There is No Intent for a National Curriculum? | Missouri Education Watchdog: