wife's
we've talked on this program quite a bit about the
corporate education reform movement this week
my a eight-year-old daughter
will be taking a series I love
the math tests based on the common
on the Common Core Curriculum I
two or three weeks ago I think it was too the English tests
much of her school year
is oriented towards taking these tests a.m. we're lucky the school that she
goes to
doesn't doesn't over-emphasize these tests but
nevertheless I can tell you that I spoke to
my daughter's teacher after English she was almost in tears
thinking about some other questions that these kids had dance answer
he creates a tremendous amount of pressure on them
i Louis CK was just dirt weeding the other day about the said the math
homework to prep them for the test
the questions are are ridiculous and
I am my daughter Tess pretty well
I know she's gonna do fine on these tests but the issue is what it does to
the entire process of learning
and then of course
there are other issues in terms of valuating teachers based on this
so it creates a tremendous amount of pressure
that is unnecessary but like we were talking about Matt AB what
this sorted new metrics as a way of determining whether or not people are
doing their job how it affects
law enforcement it also affects detrimentally
education and we see this begin to bleed and seep into all aspects about
education
this is just an anecdote but it is incredibly tell
now I Strauss in the washington post
reports on a
school in Elwood New York
the Harley Avenue primary school
apparently at the end of the year the tradition has been that the
kindergartners
put on a show for their parents
presumably I'm not sure what the show consists up but I've been to
kindergarten shows they're mildly entertaining
if you have a kid them if you don't they're not so entertaining by
you know the kids may put on a play or they may do like one
section where they sing together the value of this
I think is obvious 22 educators and parents alike it seems to me
the kids learn to public speak they learn to work with other kids as they
develop this they all work towards one goal
they learn to express themselves they learn
there are different ways of expressing yourselves they learn imagination
eccentric cetera
however the
principal who runs
the hardly Avenue primary school sent home a letter
to kindergarten parents and guardians explaining why they have canceled
the show now this
the well shows we hope this letter serves you to better understand how did
the maintenance
on the 21st century are changing schools
and more specifically to clarify misperceptions about the kindergarten
show
this issue is not unique to elwood
although the movement toward more rigorous learning standards has been in
the national news for more than a decade
decade the changing face of education is beginning to feel unsettling for some
people
white know how we teach is changing to meet the demands of a changing world
we know at this changing world is
it is that we're going to measure
the quality of education by its system up metrics that will be imposed by
private industry
that makes a lot of money off of testing
that is policy changes that are influence bike
corporate America that is flooding money into schools because they seek to
privatize them
they seek to impose a corporate standard on them
and many insist they seek to make a lot money off them
the reason for eliminating the kindergarten show is simple we are
responsible for preparing children for college and career
with valuable lifelong skills and know that we can do this best by having them
become strong readers writers coworkers
and problem solvers do not fathers for making professionals decisions that we
know will never be able to please everyone
this is so the school to get funding
they see the handwriting on the walls and they need to prep these kids for
protests
from the moment they get into the schools
because this is how the school be judged
this is how the educators we judged
is based upon whether or not those test scores are met
it's destroying our education system this destroying our education system
it's just ridiculous
just one school one anecdote but it but it illustrates
what's happening in this country in the name
I love education reform