Common Core's Five Big Half-Truths
by Frederick M. Hess • Sep 4, 2014 at 8:37 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
Cross-posted from Education Week
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School is back in session, and debate over the Common Core is boiling in key states. As governors and legislators debate the fate of the Common Core, they hear Core advocates repeatedly stress five impressive claims: that their handiwork is "internationally benchmarked," "evidence-based," "college- and career-ready," and "rigorous," and that the nations that perform best on international tests all have national standards.
In making these claims, advocates go on to dismiss skeptics as ignorant extremists who are happy to settle for mediocrity. The thing is, once examined, these claims are far less compelling than they appear at first glance. It's not that they're false so much as grossly overstated. Herewith, a handy cheat sheet for putting the Common Core talking points in context.
Internationally benchmarked: Advocates tout their handiwork as "internationally benchmarked." By this they mean that the committees that penned the Common Core paid particular attention to the standards of countries that fare well on international tests. It's swell that they did so, but benchmarking usually means comparing one's performance with another's -- not just borrowing some attractive ideas. What the Common Core authors did is more "cutting-and-pasting" than "benchmarking." Some experts even reject the notion that the standards are particularly good compared to those of other nations. Marina Ratner, professor emerita of math at the University of California, Berkeley, and winner of the 1993 international Ostrowski Prize, has written, "The most astounding statement I have read is the claim that Common Core standards are 'internationally benchmarked.' They are not. The Common Core fails any comparison with the standards of high-achieving countries....They are lower in the total scope of learned material, in the depth and rigor of the treatment of mathematical subjects, and in the delayed and often inconsistent and incoherent introductions of mathematical concepts and skills."
Evidence-based: Advocates celebrate the Common Core as "evidence-based." The implication is that whereas we used to make things up as we went along, decisions about why students must learn this and not that in fourth grade are now backed by scientific research. In fact, what advocates mean is that the standards take into account surveys asking professors and hiring managers what they thought high school graduates should know, as well as examinations of which courses college-bound students usually take. The fact is that it's difficult for anyone to claim that evidence "proves" in which grade students should learn to calculate the area of a triangle or compare narrative styles. Vanderbilt professor Lynn Fuchs has put it well, noting that there is no "empirical basis" for the Common Core. "We don't know yet whether it makes sense to have this particular set of standards," she explains. "We don't know if it produces something better or even different Common Core's Five Big Half-Truths :: Frederick M. Hess:
