EXCLUSIVE: Common Core Architect Says Don’t Abandon Traditional Catholic Education, Students ‘Will Do Superbly’ on New SAT Exam
David Coleman, president of the company responsible for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams and a chief architect of the controversial Common Core Standards, told The Cardinal Newman Society in an exclusive interview that students educated in traditional Catholic schools have nothing to fear about the Common Core-driven changes to the SAT and AP exams.
Moreover, Coleman praised religious liberal arts schools, “the beauties and distinctive values of a religious education” and even the new trend toward classical Catholic schools and homeschooling, insisting that the Common Core Standards should not be a reason for Catholic educators to abandon what is unique about a traditional Catholic education.
“As president of The College Board it is my conviction that a child excellently trained in traditional liberal arts will do superbly on relevant sections of the SAT and other aspects of Advanced Placement work, ”Coleman said. “Rest assured.”
Coleman’s assurances respond to deep concerns in the Catholic community about the ability of Catholic school students to compete for college admission unless Catholic schools change their time-honored curricula to conform to the Common Core. Already many Catholic dioceses have embraced the Common Core standards, arguing that it is necessary to keep pace with the reforms in public schools and with changes to college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT.
But The Cardinal Newman Society, working with parents and education experts, has expressed concerns about the Common Core’s utilitarian emphasis on career preparation and college skills potentially diminishing the distinctive Catholic identity and liberal arts emphasis of traditional Catholic schooling. The Newman Society launched its Catholic Is Our Core program to identify and respond to the many problems Common Core poses to faithful Catholic education.
The concerns focus especially on the Common Core’s English Language Arts (ELA) standards.
“Our goal in teaching literature to kids is not just to prepare them for possible graduate school in English; our goal, especially in Catholic schools, is to form them and expose them to great, engaging, formative and normative literature and in the process instill in them a love and passion for reading great literature,” wrote Dr. Dan Guernsey and Dr. Denise Donohue,
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