Whatever Happened to the Core Knowledge Program?
No, I do not refer to the Common Core standards.
I mean the Core Knowledge program that unfolded in U.S. schools in the decade following the 1987 publication of University of Virginia Professor E.D. Hirsch, Jr.’s Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.
The book, the creation of the Core Knowledge Foundation and subsequent publication of curricular sequences across academic subjects taught in elementary schools produced a reform that again brought to the surface the historical struggle over what kind of knowledge and skills are worth teaching and learning in tax-supported public schools.
Hot embers of previous traditional vs. progressive wars in the early 20th century and then in the 1950s over the importance of phonics vs. whole language in reading, exposure to disciplinary knowledge rather than students creating their own meaning re-ignited in the last decade of the century after Hirsch’s book and the spread of Core Knowledge programs in schools.
What Problems Did the Core Knowledge Program Intend To Solve?
According to Hirsch and advocates for Core Knowledge, the current concentration on building skills–“student will be able to do…”–has handicapped children and youth by ignoring the importance of teaching systematically CONTINUE READING: Whatever Happened to the Core Knowledge Program? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
What happened to Core Knowledge? It was bought by Amplify. https://t.co/huybTtvppC Strange @larrycuban doesn't mention this. https://t.co/J9V5RsGBJh— leonie haimson (@leoniehaimson) June 5, 2019
