Common Core accuses Massachusetts educrats of “sneaking 21st century skills into classrooms basically under cover of night.”
Last week the Pioneer Institute learned that bureaucrats at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have snuck 21st century skills into the statewide Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) without telling anyone-effectively changing the content of Massachusetts education without public or legislative input.
The Boston Globe took time off from fighting for survival last week to let Bay State ed officials feel their displeasure over the test debacle as well. “Massachusetts stands apart in public education precisely because it created high academic standards, developed an objective measure of student performance and progress through the MCAS test, and required a passing grade in order to graduate,” observed a Globe editorial. “Students, as a result, rank at or near the top of standardized testing not just nationally but on tough international achievement tests in math and science. Any retreat from this strategy would be a profound mistake.”
Governor Deval Patrick’s campaign in 2006 was largely financed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association (largest teacher union in the state). As payback, Patrick has essentially endorsed the MTA’s anti-MCAS posture with his repeated references to alternative assessments.
To exacerbate the situation Patrick has also made several questionable appointments to the state’s Board of Education, all strong proponents of the 21st century skills movement.
Most everything done by Patrick in the last year related to education has been done in a suspiciously secretive manner. Talk about one step forward and FIVE steps back!
The question; can anyone put a halt this absurdity? The only likely contender – the Boston Globe.
The Globe editorial, “21st-Century Skeptics” (5/2/09) denouncing enhanced skills as “soft” or “diffuse” is on target. I would take it even a step farther and equate these proposed enhanced skills as but another attempt by some misguided bureaucrats to dumb-down our schools.
Students cannot think critically or solve problems without having the facts to think about and knowing the material first. It is not a good idea to sacrifice all our gains for the newest educational fad that’s been rolled out in some erroneous attempt to “improve” our schools.
The international TIMSS and the national NAEP assessments have demonstrated that Massachusetts students are at the vanguard of public education in this country and around the world because they have ensured students know the facts, the content, the stuff. To date, this has allowed Massachusetts students to be able to intelligently analyze whatever it is they have learned with any students on the planet.