I’m really conflicted in the debate re: the Common Core and its higher standards of learning.
As I argued in a prior post, I’m all for giving students a more rigorous education, but wonder if the emphasis on standards is just a diversion from fixing fundamental problems.
Said differently, it’s really easy to print & mail higher standards, but … what good are they if students aren’t achieving lower standards because of their capabilities, their environment or the educational delivery system.
Case in point: U.S. literacy rates.
My hunch: all states have standards that say, at a minimum, “students should be able to read”.
Still, Google “U.S. Literacy Rates” and you get linked to articles with titles like:
The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn’t Changed In 10 Years
Broad-scale studies indicate that less than 15% of the U.S. population reads proficiently.
Ouch.
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Think about those findings for a moment …
The Homa Files 