Recent Articles
Debate Denied
There is a lot of confusion surrounding Common Core. (that’s an understatement…) It has been said that when you listen to the proponents you walk away thinking, “This is good.” Then when you talk to the opponents you walk away thinking, “This is really bad.” We’ve been approached about having a public debate so that […]
Buyer’s Remorse
Mary Ollie We’ve all heard about the family that enters a contest and wins a new house. Everyone is excited. Members of the press trip over each other in order to produce the best photos and the most glowing accounts about this wonderful new house. The family settles in and then the utility and […]
Moms vs Big Money Machine
Near the end of November, Mike Petrelli and Michael Brickman of Thomas B. Fordham Institute (a “conservative” education think-tank) penned an opinion piece for the Cour d’alene Press extolling the “conservative” virtues of Common Core. Interestingly, at the end of October that exact same editorial appeared in at least five other states, but with the […]
Kicking the Hornets Nest
Secretary Arne Duncan kicked a hornets nest a few weeks ago by attacking white suburban moms. Don’t attack Mama. She knows what is best and right for her kids and most of us are fairly realistic about our children’s capabilities. Austin Hill contacted me shortly after Secretary Duncan made his racist/sexist comments. He had me […]
Building the Machine
HSLDA is working on a documentary movie to be released in February: http://www.commoncoremovie.com
What PISA Really Means
The PISA test results have just been released, and predictable as death and taxes the United States is falling behind the rest of the world in our scores. Remember the adage, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”? It looks like we have an educational crisis and we have to fix it. Common Core to […]
An Insider’s View on Testing
Mary Ollie has been in education long enough to know a bad thing when she sees it. She started teaching in Cascade as a Science teacher for grades seven through twelve in 1984. She has since spent time at Vallivue, Caldwell and Idaho Digital Learning Academy. Now she teaches at Treasure Valley Community College. Mary has been recognized […]
“Gates Led” Not “States Led”
By Valerie Candelaria “Gates-Led” effort, not “State-Led” (seems more appropriate) – the Gates Foundation has been pursuing the goal of national standards, even global standards, for many years. Given the source, there has been an increased emphasis on “data-driven decision making”, which of course is dependent on technology, data collection systems, digital staff development tools, […]
Common Core’s Invalid Validation Committee
Common Core’s Invalid Validation Committee Sandra Stotsky Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas Paper prepared for a conference at University of Notre Dame September 9, 2013 Common Core’s K-12 standards, it is regularly claimed, emerged from a state-led process in which experts and educators were well represented. But the people who wrote the standards did not […]
The Right Tienken Link
I got a very nice email from Christopher Tienken letting me know the link I used in a previous post was not working. He kindly supplied me with the right one. Here’s a link to his site. ICYMI VIDEO: Editorial Board interview: Standards don’t work, education expert says Need for curriculum called into question […]
