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National PTA Endorses Common Standards
Stephen Krashen Comment:Three posts on Edweek.org, "Curriculum Matters" blog, National PTA
Endorses Common Standards (see below)
1. When I clicked on the skeptics link in this article, it sent me
to a previous Ed Week column describing the fact that professional
organizations wanted to play a role in writing the standards. These
are not skeptics. These are supporters of standards who want a seat at
the table. If you want to see what the real skeptics, or rather
critics are saying, read what Alfie Kohn, Gerald Bracey and Susan
Ohanian are saying. Start with susanohanian.org.
2. It is hard for me to believe that the PTA really thinks that
precise and narrow national standards (which means national tests and
most likely a rigid national curriculum) is a good idea. Do they
really agree with Arne Duncan's assembly line view that all children
should know where they are "on every step of their educational
trajectory" in all subjects? Do PTA members have any idea how children
learn?
3. It is sad to read that the PTA accepts the argument that our
students are doing poorly compared to those in other countries.
Comparisons with other countries ignore the poverty variable. Richard
Rothstein has documented that children of poverty have inferior health
care, an inferior diet, and fewer educational opportunities outside of
school, such as travel and trips to museums. They are also less likely
to have their own study area, get less help with homework, and have
far less access to books in the home and in their communities. These
factors have a profound influence on academic achievement.
Gerald Bracey has pointed out that American schools with low poverty
rates score higher than even the highest scoring countries on
standardized tests; only American schools with high levels of poverty
(75% or more) fall below the international average.
The PTA needs to do its homework. Here is the first reading
assignment:
Gerald Bracey, Setting the Record Straight: Responses to
Misconceptions about Public Education in the U.S. Heinemann, 2004.
Ohanian Comment; Alas, this comes as no surprise. The national PTA has also played a disreputable role in supporting NCLB. And here is their statement endorsing Duncan.
National PTA Endorses Common Standards
We at EdWeek have written about various organizations lining up in
support of the multi-state effort to create common academic standards,
as well as about skeptics of that plan and how it's being carried out.
Now backers of the standards can boast that another group has rallied
to their cause: parents, or at least parents represented by the
National Parent Teacher Association.
The organization, headquartered in Chicago, released a statement on
the eve of its annual meeting in support of the "Common Core" effort
to create uniform standards in reading and math. The PTA seeks to
advocate for the welfare of children, and build ties between parents
and schools, according to its official description on its website.
Anybody who joins a local or state PTA becomes a member. . . .Ed Week doesn't allow whole articles to be reposted. For the rest of this, go to the url below.
— Stephen Kirashen
Education Week
2009-06-09
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2009/06/national_pta_endorses_common_s.html?qs=PTA+endorses
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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