Common Core Revealed: the Bad and the Ugly (Jury's out on the Good)
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| Fortune Magazine |
Please - if you don't read the article, don't read my entire thread - scroll down to read what Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil has to say to you as parents about your children. (I'll highlight it in red.)
What's equally fascinating is that any dissent mentioned in the article by ordinary folks gets the "blogger moms" attitude with a complete brush-off of what noted education experts have said about CC. It's like all the dissenters are just the anonymous, ignorant and unwashed masses. You know, the little people.
They also chose to leave out who really wrote those standards (hint: it wasn't educators.)
The main takeaway from Fortune:
When Exxon Mobil, GE, Intel, and others pushed for the education standards, they incurred the wrath of Tea Party conservatives and got a painful lesson in modern politics.
To CEOs, the issue has always been a no-brainer. In an increasingly global economy, what sense does it make for America to have 50 different sets of Seattle Schools Community Forum: Common Core Revealed: the Bad and the Ugly (Jury's out on the Good):
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open Thread http://bit.ly/1SkVZlq
A lot to catch up on so here we go.
The latest interactive map on our geographically challenged city is out fromSeattle’s Office of Emergency Management. Check your home, office and especially, your child's school. This is not a scare tactic but to get people to think about and get prepared for a natural disaster in our area.
Uh oh, the Times is reporting that Washington is one of 12 states whose test-participation rate was lower than 95% and the state could face federal sanctions because of it. Washington had about a 91% test rate, mostly because of high school juniors (grades 3-8 were fine.) Among the sanctions, schools and districts have to prove a plan on how they will get those rates up.
One of the districts with a high refusal rate was Seattle Public Schools, where 43 percent of juniors opted out of the English-language arts test, and 44 percent opted out of the math test. Other nearby districts had even higher rates — preliminary data showed more than three-quarters of juniors in the Bainbridge Island, Issaquah, Enumclaw and Snoqualmie Valley school districts refused to take the tests.
First Lady Michelle Obama has launched a college resource website called BetterMakeRoom.org. From ABC News:
BetterMakeRoom.org will be a place for students ages 14-19 to get information on such matters as signing up for the SAT and ACT exams, filling out federal financial aid forms and applying to college, aides said. Students will also be able to share stories about their goals, their progress and what’s inspiring them to go to college.
From Diverse - Issues in Higher Education - comes word of a "scorecard" for U.S. cities for working to improve education and life outcomes for black men and boys. Oakland, Detroit and Washington, D.C. come out on top. Seattle is in the bottom third.
Seattle's Red Tricycle blog has several ideas for New Year's Eve activities with kids. Speaking of, here are "28 Pictures that prove 2015 wasn't a completely terrible year." Very heart-warming - show the kids.
One other idea for a peaceful, clearing-of-the-mind activity for the new year - walk the Labyrinth at St. Mark's. I've done this and it's quite the beautiful experience. (I do not recommend this for kids unless they are able to be extra quiet and mindful of their surroundings and what other participants are trying to achieve.)
What's on your mind?http://bit.ly/1SkVZlq