The Dangers and Opportunities of the Common Core

So much has changed in the last 30 years. Diversity is on the verge of extinction--diversity of curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment. The nation is moving into an era that will link Common Core standards with a Common Core curriculum taught by teachers who will assess student learning through a slate of Common Core exams and be evaluated with a common rubric that uses scores on these exams as measures of teacher quality. Some think this is progress. The authors don't. They think it deflects energy away from opportunities for building a collegial professional culture aimed at real teaching and learning. They point out that the Common Core State Standards Initiative is not the solution for what ails education; standardization can never be the solution. In place of the current initiative, they propose using the common standards to support cultures within schools that put teacher professionalism and student learning at the center. The standards themselves can enhance professional conversations about teaching and learning. The power and efficacy of the programs that schools offer students derive from the knowledge constructed in such conversations, and are built on trusting relationships that revolve around the core mission of schooling: to light up children's worlds with opportunities for learning.