CURMUDGUCATION: Go Home, CAP

CURMUDGUCATION: Go Home, CAP:

Go Home, CAP

On the heels of a recent tweet in which the Center for American Progress tried to pretend that politics had nothing to do with Common Core (at least, not until big meanies dragged politics in), CAP is now here to assert that CCSS math standards are both necessary and research based.

"How the Common Core Will Help the United States Bring Up Its Grade on Mathematics Education"comes perilously close to being the sort of thing certain bloggers might write if they wanted to make fun of folks like CAP. This is like a small museum of bad and discredited arguments for the CCSS.

First, it's "OMGZ!! Our test scorers are worserer than everybody elses!!"

American high school students also perform far below the international average in math. Currently, they rank 27th in mathematics, while Korean and Japanese students lead the world. Between 2003 and 2012, the average math score in the United States actually decreased 2 points, while Korea’s shot up 12 points. 

Education historian Diane Ravitch has addressed this point roughly a gazillion times. 


In 1964, when the first international test was offered in two grades to twelve nations, we came in last and next to last in the two grades but went on to have a stronger economy in the next half CURMUDGUCATION: Go Home, CAP:

Education, Inc. Premiere

Brian Malone has written and directed a new documentary that belongs with your collection of films that make the current assault on public education clear and vivid. And the film's official release is tomorrow.

Education Inc is in the fine tradition of Food, Inc. It provides both a specific and important story and a clear and comprehensible overview of the larger forces shaping the small battles in education. The small picture is of events in Colorado, where Jefferson and Douglass counties find their school boards being bought up by outsider interests and their schools hammered by the folks who want to see public education run by private corporations.

The larger picture shows how this local battle is just one manifestation of forces that are dismantling public education across the entire country. Here's the trailer:



Tomorrow is the official launch of the film, though copies have been available for a while now. Many "official" screenings are scheduled across the country (you can find a partial listing here), but you can also go ahead and buy a copy ($15 plus s/h), then screen the film in the comfort of your own home.

This is one more opportunity to bring clarity and real information to the education debates. Check out Malone's film-- if not tomorrow, then as soon as you're able.

Education, Inc. Premiere