tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post5911808751249850615..comments2024-03-16T13:43:21.762-04:00Comments on Schools Matter: Cigarettes : Nicotine :: Common Core Standards : High-Stakes TestingJames Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-88712925103184662822012-07-13T22:56:01.161-04:002012-07-13T22:56:01.161-04:00For some reason, I have always been led to believe...For some reason, I have always been led to believe it is unethical to conduct experiments on children. Why isn't everyone questioning this mass human trial about to take place in our public schools?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641440117634365012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-78473840803971810222012-07-12T09:48:56.671-04:002012-07-12T09:48:56.671-04:00Love the analogy Jim! Been thinking lately myself ...Love the analogy Jim! Been thinking lately myself about how much ed reform resembles addictive thinking. A couple of things to add for consideration, using this analogy (or is it a metaphor? :))<br />-the simplest yet most challenging fact about addiction is that the addict themselves is the ONLY person who can make the change. Loved ones can stand around him or her screaming "Don't you see it???" until they're blue in the face, but its the addict who must concede to their inner most selves there is a problem. When will we collectively as a society accept that while the test makers and Common Core pushers are like the drug dealers, we are the only ones who can stop it- but nothing changes until we take the action ourselves. Why is this hard? it requires over coming fear of what will happen if we actually DO something, and long held delusional beliefs that "if i just change this..." -trying to "control" the addiction- thinking a switch from beer to wine is the solution, is not unlike thinking "we just need better high stakes tests..."<br />This ed reform movement is more powerful than us in many ways-the only way OUT of this nightmare is to take responsibility ourselves for ending it, stop fooling ourselves that we can "manage it" by believing we can accept some of the initiatives "I'll only have just one...I'll switch heroine for over the counter prescriptions..." ITS ALL THE SAME THING AND IT LEADS TO THE SAME END RESULTS AND THEY ARE NOT GOOD. We must perform an act of complete abstinence and say no to ALL of it: VAM, Common Core and its attachment to HST, and myths of school choice. Its time to stop fooling ourselves. Asking the drug dealer to stop pedaling will never work. There's too much profit to be made. We're at the jumping off point where the "using habits" are leading to worse and worse consequences. This stops when WE decide to stop it.Morna McDermotthttp://www.educationalchemy.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-23072126961996215902012-07-12T02:07:08.588-04:002012-07-12T02:07:08.588-04:00ravitch, who did so much to promote education defo...ravitch, who did so much to promote education deform in its cradle, had a come-to-jesus moment just in time to lead the growing opposition. coincidence?<br /><br />i think not.<br /><br />false friends, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-80308166475181921632012-07-11T23:51:29.647-04:002012-07-11T23:51:29.647-04:00Your closing quote about what testing is really ab...Your closing quote about what testing is really about articulates what was me deepest intuition about CCSS from the beginning. I would never have been able to express it so succinctly.<br /><br />I'm surprised we're seeing some allies begin to cave on this, since opposing it is the most important thing that social context reformers can do at this point. Once CCSS is entrenched, it will make the past dozen years seem something worthy of downright nostalgic in comparison.<br /><br />We must collectively resist Corporate Core Standards with every breath, every action, every ability we have.Robert D. Skeels * rdsathenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07920561332154131328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-91130743877061093642012-07-11T19:44:15.740-04:002012-07-11T19:44:15.740-04:00Common Core (at commoncore.org) and the Common Cor...Common Core (at commoncore.org) and the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) are separate. Ravitch was affiliated with the former. The actual relationship between Common Core and the CCSSI is a bit complicated -- the CCSSI doesn't really support Common Core's purported goals as much as they'd like you to think. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors about what the standards actually say.<br /><br />That is, Common Core ostensibly seeks students with "an understanding of culture, the arts, history, literature, civics, and language." CCSSI isn't very strong in those areas at all.Tom Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08577165613934129833noreply@blogger.com