The eagle-eyed Lynne Munson of Common Core spotted a troublesome quote in a piece at Politics Daily about the work of drafting common state standards. It doesn’t bode well for those expecting robust, specific content.
They’re really looking for what students should be able to do to truly be ready for college,” says [Chris] Minnich of the Council of Chief State School Officers, one of the groups overseeing the process along with the National Governors’ Association and a Washington-based group called Achieve. “It means taking out some of the things that aren’t really important, including, he says, “whether or not kids should read Shakespeare. Most of the studies say Shakespeare is not critical.”
First, note that Minnich says the panel is looking for what students should be able to do, not what they should know. Translation: the standards are all about skills, not content. I’ll leave to others to comment on the, er…opinion, that Shakespeare belongs on the list of “things that aren’t really important.”
The dark night of pretending we can divorce skills from content in American schools continues (If there’s one thing “most of the studies say” it’s that you can’t). If the first thing you throw overboard is the language’s most acclaimed writer–someone whose name, like Einstein’s for genius, is a synonym for excellence in writing–then there’s not a lot of room for optimism that there will be any defined content whatsoever in these voluntary standards.
This was the most unkindest cut of all.
One of the biggest applause line in President Obama’s speech to the NAACP Thursday wasn’t in his prepared remarks–it came when he exhorted parents and children to take full advantage of their educational opportunities and make “no excuses.”
We have to say to our children, Yes, if you’re African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not. But that’s not a reason to get bad grades, that’s not a reason to cut class, that’s not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands – and don’t you forget that. That’s what we have to teach all of our children! No excuses! No excuses!”
The “Your destiny is in your hands…no excuses” bit was not in the President’s prepared remarks, but both Fox News and the Huffington Post put it in their respective headlines.
In education circles, of course, the “no excuses” meme has become shorthand for schools–and especially teachers–making no excuses for poor student achievement. It reflects the deeply held conviction by some that a school can, should, must overcome all deficits in the children it serves, regardless of outside circumstances. It remains an excellent rallying cry, if not a realistic standard by which to measure teacher performance.
It’s refreshing to hear the standard applied to all actors in the process, not just teachers. The response to Obama’s off-the-cuff remark clearly demonstrates the wisdom of crowds.
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