Fordham Institute Is Still Pitching Common Core. Big Surprise.
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute (TBF) has been trying to sell the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for years.
In October 2009, TBF received almost $1 million from the Gates Foundation “to review the common core standards and develop supportive materials.”
It should come as no surprise that in 2010, TBF rated CCSS “clearly superior to standards in most states.”
But not all states. An excerpt:
Based on our observations, the Common Core standards are clearly superior to those currently in use in thirty-nine states in math and thirty-seven states in English. For thirty-three states, the Common Core is superior in both math and reading.
TBF gave CCSS an A-minus in math and a B-plus in English Language Arts (ELA). Some states they rated higher. Still, TBF was paid to sell CCSS. So, TBF promotes CCSS above any existing set of state standards, including standards it rated as better than CCSS.
TBF pitches CCSS. That’s just what it does.
TBF draws notable funding from the Gates Foundation (almost $8 million to date), and as of this writing, the Gates Foundation is still disbursing grants in order to advance CCSS.
TBF is a think tank, which means that it needs to do something in order to justify its existence, so why not peddle the CCSS that Bill Gates still likes?
On January 05, 2016, Robert Pondisco, a TBF “senior fellow,” published a “review” of books criticizing CCSS, including mine.
It’s not really a review. It’s a slanted plea in support of a Common Core that will not achieve what it was supposed to: A standardization of standards across states, and Fordham Institute Is Still Pitching Common Core. Big Surprise. | deutsch29:
