Moving Beyond Learning Standards

I’ve tried to build my 21st Century Education Plan on a firm foundation that covers a core knowledge in Literature, Art, Math, History, and Science.  Sounds ambitious, right?

Well, I have to admit that although there are advantages to adhering to such learning standards, it’s not without it’s own set of problems.

My Education About Education

Back in 2001, when my daughter entered Kindergarten, I’d never heard of NCLB.  In those days, consumed by nonstop running after two high-energy kids, I barely paid attention to the news.  As far as I knew, all well-regarded public schools offered the same basic education, preparing students to do well in college and beyond.

I thought that all I had to do to ensure a good education for my children was to move to an award-winning, top rated school district.  A highly regarded school community with excellent teachers and involved parents would be a certain recipe for success.

This belief held strong for several years.

Although I’d heard of E.D. Hirsch and his concerns about cultural literacy, I didn’t think they applied at the good schools.  When I picked up a copy of What Your Kindergartner Needs To Know, it was in the same manner that I’d once used What to Expect When You’re Expecting to understand that stage of our lives.

Reading this book didn’t change my beliefs.

Hirsch’s introduction informs the reader that students, even in the same school, can expect vastly different experiences when taught by different teachers.  He goes on to describe the Core Knowledge Foundation that was created to address this problem.

The “Core Knowledge” movement is an educational reform based on the premise that a grade-by-grade core of common learning is necessary to ensure a sound and fair elementary education.

Intellectually, I understood his arguments but I didn’t think it was relevant to our case.  My daughter’s Kindergarten class didn’t cover everything in the Core Knowledge curriculum, but it covered much of the material.  They didn’t explore World History, but they went on a field trip to a local orchard and learned about growing apples.  Overall, I was satisfied with the education that my child was receiving.

It wasn’t until years later that I started questioning these gaps in our top-rated local school’s curriculum, and comparing it to that of other schools around the country.  I started seeing for myself how the lack of uniform learning standards could affect my children’s education.

My son entered Kindergarten in 2004, repeating it in 2005, giving me plenty of opportunity to compare first-hand how different teachers cover the same grade material.  I also saw the not-so-subtle maneuvers savvy parents used to get their children into the classes with the preferred teachers.

Perhaps the rudest awakening occurred when my daughter entered 3rd Grade.  That year was a mess!  At the beginning of the year, the class was a combined 3rd & 4th Grade, but that didn’t work out so they moved the fourth graders out midyear.  This created untold chaos, even as the class dealt with their first standardized test, a slow-moving math curriculum that never covered all the material, and Science and Social Studies curriculum that was hit or miss.

NCLB Impacts Teaching

As an experienced parent, I could also see how the curriculum changed over the years.

My daughter was in the last class to experience the pre-NCLB world, before State Assessments became mandatory in Grades 3-8.  She had to take the TerraNova in 3rd Grade, but not the dreaded State Tests which suck up one week each for Verbal and Math tests, not to mention all the prep beforehand.

Her class did not “benefit” from pacing guidelines that asked teachers to introduce tested subjects in earlier grades.  I noticed the difference when my son was asked to begin memorizing math facts in 1st Grade as this was something that had previously not been done until 2nd Grade.

Not a big, huge change in itself, but it was part of an overall trend where fun projects were cut back to make room for getting kids ready for the State Assessments.  Ensuring that schools were accountable, meeting the minimum learning standards in Math and Language Arts, meant that there was less time to differentiate curriculum to meet the needs of students with different abilities.

As one 2nd Grade teacher, who is renowned for her creativity, told me outside of school, “NCLB is sucking the joy out of learning, and I’m thinking seriously about moving down to teaching a lower grade to avoid it all.”

Think about this, this is a 2nd Grade teacher being affected by a test that isn’t given until 3rd Grade.

It leaves me wondering what kind of impact we will see if current efforts to enforce national learning standards succeed.

So far, I haven’t been impressed by any of the learning standards.  I’ve already mentioned what I think about New York’s learning standards.  Comparing these to learning standards around the nation, I still see similar gaps in coverage of the Humanities.

However, even if public schools adopted the Core Knowledge curriculum, and succeeded in filling educational gaps, I’d still be concerned that the concurrent emphasis on accountability would detract from what I think should be the goal of engaging enthusiastic life-long learners.

My 21st Century Education Plan

Bottom line, although the Core Knowledge series may outline a solid framework for a school curriculum, I’d be concerned about any rigid learning standard.

No matter how comprehensive it is, learning isn’t static.  Everyday there are new developments that shape what could, or should be learned.  There are current events that transform dry history into a meaningful, engaging lesson.  Scientific discoveries can add a new element to a lesson, or transform it altogether.

More importantly, a strict adherence to a Core Knowledge schedule, or any learning standard schedule, necessitates more lecturing, less discussion, and very little child-led learning.

So, I’ve picked up a copy of What Your Fourth Grader Needs To Know, and I’ll flip through it when I’m formulating the next IHIP, but it’s just a checklist, not a full curriculum.  There is no weaving in of related topics, or deep exploration of any one topic. It’s a guide, but not an itinerary.

My 21st Century Education Plan Series:

• How Should We Educate 21st Century Students?
• Who’s Minding The Gap In Your Child’s Education?

Related Articles:

• Creativity Is Not On The Test
• NCLB, seven years and still bullying strong

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Tagged as: core knowledge, Core Knowledge Foundation, cultural literacy, E.D. Hirsch, No Child Left Behind Act