Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Like I Said

Turns out that the Alliance for Childhood (the fact that such an organization even exists speaks volumes, don't you think?) agrees with my assessment of the Common Core Standards. They have "grave concerns" about the standards, which in their view "conflict with compelling new research in cognitive science, neuroscience, child development, and early childhood education about how young children learn, what they need to learn, and how best to teach them in kindergarten and the early grades." Well, duh.

To paraphrase, they are worried that the new standards will:
  • lead to age-inappropriate types of instruction
  • push out play-based learning
  • encourage more standardized testing
  • leave no time for crucial learning in areas other than reading and math
Furthermore, they point out that there is no research-based evidence to suggest that teaching this way even works. There is no established link between intensive instruction in discrete academic skills and later success, yet there is clearly established cognitive science indicating that this is not the best way for young children to learn. What is clearly established, of course, is the link between intensive instruction and higher standardized test scores in the short term.

Like I said.