Whenever somebody points us to an education report--especially when that report is on the internet, and it comes complete with a .pdf address--we make excuses. Choose your favorite: Not enough caffeine this morning. Too much caffeine this morning. It's too late in the day. Or it's too early in the morning. An old friend came in from out of town. Locusts! So could we please read it when we have more time? Like after we're dead?
Except this particular education report had two things going for it. First and most important, Cynthia Howell covered it in the paper. Experience has shown over the years that our education reporter here at Arkansas' Newspaper knows her stuff. She's like the old E.F. Hutton firm: When she writes, people pay attention. Or at least should.
Second, said report had to do with those Common Core standards that are making so many waves these days. Opposition from the right says it's an overreach by the feds, who shouldn't have this much say in education. The opposition on the left says there's too much darned testing already, and it's wearing out the poor kids, poor teachers, and poor everybody else concerned.
So, haltingly, warily, keeping one eye closed at first, we took a peek at the website run by the University of Arkansas' experts on education policy, a designation that usually works like a fast-acting sedative. This report on the everlasting debate over Common Core is put out by the university's Office for Education Policy. (It can be found at www.officeforeducationpolicy.org) if you're brave enough to take a look. Be sure to steel yourself and then . . . .
Get this: The thing is readable. It's not Mark Twain, but for a report about education, you can actually get through it without nodding off. It's as if these researchers had had some editing help, God bless them. (Everybody needs an editor.)
The researchers came to the conclusion that Arkansas should continue with Common Core, at least for now. Which shouldn't surprise, but is bound to outrage those who've already made up their minds about or rather against Common Core.
Nor should readers be surprised by this report's conclusion in favor of Common Core. For the whole point of the thing was to make sure each state did not have its own set of standards for education. If a state down here in the South, like, say, Arkansas, is going to know how it's doing as compared to other states, then the measuring stick for each state needs to not just look the same, but be the same. Which is what a Common Core of standards provides.
The researchers at the university who turned out this report were not only reasonable and thorough, but . . . polite. You'll not find much if any name-calling in this report. The opposition to Common Core is treated the way you might treat a buddy who's pulling for the wrong team. This report isn't just a pleasant read, it's an uplifting one. Call it suggested reading.
The report notes:
--Common Core isn't an example of federal overreach, y'all. The feds didn't force any state to adopt these standards. It did urge them to, and it did use a grant program (Race to the Top) to encourage them to adopt the same national standards. It's called using the carrot instead of the stick. States could have chosen to approve a set of educational standards other than Common Core, but most states had the sense not to try and re-invent the wheel, that is, re-do all the work that went into drawing up these standards.
--Its critics are right about one point: Common Core has no track record of success. To which we would respond: So what? It's a new program, for goshsakes. Give it a chance.
--The argument that Common Core would lower standards in states that already have high ones for their students might be a concern elsewhere. But not in Arkansas, where Common Core represents a higher, not lower, standard.
More than 40 states have adopted at least parts of Common Core. But resistance is mounting. In the last regular session of the Ledge earlier this year, a couple of bills were proposed that would have defunded Common Core in this state. Both bills were defeated. (Who says the Ledge always messes up?)
What's more, another respected outfit in American education--the Fordham Institute--put out a study showing that Common Core provides a more rigorous curriculum than most states had before. And experience has shown over the years that students will meet higher standards--if they're just presented with them.
Let it also be noted that the U.S. military supports Common Core as well. Why? Because its troops move on frequent occasion. When a service member gets a new assignment across the country, it's easier for the kids to make the transition to a new school when the same standards are in place. And in an increasingly mobile society in general, the rest of us who aren't in the military should support Common Core for the same reason.
You can read the report yourself, Gentle Reader. It's only a little over 20 pages long, and you can read it in less than half an hour. A big thanks to the authors, Prairey R. Walkling, Jennifer W. Ash, and Gary W. Ritter. There's no need to go into every detail about their work here. The writers--emphasis on writers--will guide you through it.
Our conclusion: Let's stick with Common Core--at least until somebody comes up with a good argument against it. And we've yet to see one.
Editorial on 07/10/2014