In today’s Washington Post, Valerie Strauss posted a much-needed critique of the Common Core State Standards for early childhood education on her blog The Answer Sheet. Written by Nancy Carlsson-Paige and Ed Miller, this article shines a spotlight on the faulty process surrounding the development of the early childhood (Pre-K through 3rd grade) section of the Common Core State Standards.
Here is a snippet…
Recent critiques of the Common Core Standards by Marion Brady and John T. Spencer have noted that the process for creating the new K-12 standards involved too little research, public dialogue, or input from educators.
Nowhere was this more startlingly true than in the case of the early childhood standards—those imposed on kindergarten through grade 3. We reviewed the makeup of the committees that wrote and reviewed the Common Core Standards. In all, there were 135 people on those panels. Not a single one of them was a K-3 classroom teacher or early childhood professional.
Not only were early childhood educators excluded from committees developing the standards, their feedback was not included as well. This includes feedback from some of the most prominent leaders in the field. Could you see that happening in any other profession? Read the full article here at The Washington Post.