While having a common set of educational constructs to set a “minimal” benchmark for educational achievement sounds like a good idea, the real issue surfaces when you dive into what that really means. Are we aiming for the minimum, rather than encouraging students to achieve to their maximum potential.

School administrators and teachers will say, “Certainly not!”

But what was the intent of the “Common Core,” who proposed it, how was it researched to ensure it was a proven strategy, and what kinds of assessment questions are children being exposed to in order to evaluate achievement?

Until recently, there was a great video on YouTube that was quite eye-opening, but due to changes in privacy laws, the video no longer exists.  So while Common Core emerged on the scene a decade ago, it took about 5 years for the impact to be felt.  It’s a great exercise in “What a great idea” that morphed into, “What?  We need to do that too?”  And then, states that got aboard the boat first were the first to jump ship.

Check out https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/14/09/what-happened-common-core for a great read about what happened.

As we’ve advanced through history however, since it wasn’t top of mind until the deadline loomed, it’s now being replaced by other educational standards.   Visit https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/05/states-are-implementing-new-educational-standards-signaling-the-end-of-common-core.html for more.