Monday, January 7, 2013

New Education Standards Will Fail Your Kids And America's Future If We Don't Act Now - Forbes

New Education Standards Will Fail Your Kids And America's Future If We Don't Act Now - Forbes:


New Education Standards Will Fail Your Kids And America's Future If We Don't Act Now

William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's still the man, but the kids need a little Michael Lewis, too. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
School’s back in session—or is it?

If you’re a concerned parent, business owner, Human Resources director, or just a plain ol’ taxpayer, check out the Common Core State Standards—the national teaching guidelines for grades K-12 set to take effect in 2014. The Standards are not mandated by the federal government, but public schools (and some private ones) in nearly every state have begun to adopt them.
I fear the new rules will short-change future generations in a fundamental way—and America will end up paying for it.
The guidelines, which cover mathematics and English language arts (reading and writing), have ignited a debate about the amount of nonfiction material students should have to read. According to the Standards, 70% of the 12th grade reading list will consist of nonfiction works—an extra-large helping for traditionalists who fear that