Bill Nye, The Science Guy shouldn't believe everything he reads about the Common Core.
Stephen Krashen
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=6623§ion=Article
On Big Think, Bill Nye (The Science Guy) advises us to "use your critical thinking skills. Evaluate evidence. Don't believe everything you read or see" (December 20, 2016). Mr. Nye is a good example of doing exactly that, reading and evaluating evidence carefully from all sides of an issue. Except in one major case: The Common Core.
Mr. Nye is an enthusiastic supporter of the Common Core standards, because, he says, there are some basic principles everybody needs to know. On Big Think in September, 2014, he says that everybody needs to learn "a little bit of physics, chemistry, mathematics and you got to learn some evolution. You've got to learn some biology ... Everybody's got to learn the alphabet. Everybody's got to learn to read. The U.S. Constitution is written in English so everybody's got to learn to read English." (http://bigthink.com/videos/bill-nye-is-the-core-curriculum-the-antidote-for-creationism).
I completely agree and I think that nearly all educators and parents agree. Mr. Nye says that the opposition to the common core stems from teachers not wanting to teach subjects they are not very interested in, and parents' concerns that the content of the core might conflict with their beliefs.
But the oppoition to the Common Core among professional educators is different: It is because the standards that make up the official Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are developmentally inappropriate, were created without sufficient consultation with SKrashen: Bill Nye, The Science Guy shouldn't believe everything he reads about the Common Core.:
