The Boston Globe just ran an interesting Op-Ed from Tom Birmingham, the former head of the Massachusetts Senate. Birmingham discusses the new Common Core State Standards, which have replaced Massachusetts’ former very excellent public school education standards: “I also fear that universal high standards and objective assessments are being jettisoned in favor of a return…
Before I discuss more specific deficiencies in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that the Kentucky Board of Education approved for use on June 5, 2013, I want to amplify on a comments made early in the new Fordham report on the new science standards about poor performance in science today across the United States.…
Today the Bluegrass Institute participated in an event hosted by the Christian Home Educators of Kentucky (CHEK) to raise awareness of the potential threats to Kentucky’s educational sovereignty created by the state’s adoption of Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These standards are a one-sized-fits-every-state educational curriculum to which the commonwealth acquiesced before the standards were…
The new, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) don’t exactly shine in a new, Fordham Institute report on state science standards. Says Fordham, the NGSS are: “…clearly inferior to those of twelve states and the District of Columbia, as well as the NAEP and TIMSS frameworks.” Fordham awarded the NGSS a rather unimpressive “C,” scarcely much…
BIPPS staff education analyst Richard Innes addressed the Interim Joint Education Committee today on transparency problems with the common core state standards. The text from Innes’ presentation was posted earlier today in another blog, and you can learn still more about these issues and access the documents Innes mentions in the freedomkentucky.org wiki item on…
Bluegrass Institute’s staff education analyst, Richard Innes, is on tap to testify today on one of the problems with the creation of the Common Core State Standards. Here is the text of his planned testimony: Testimony to The Kentucky Legislature’s Interim Joint Committee on Education June 10, 2013 Richard G. Innes Staff Education Analyst Bluegrass…
The Kentucky Board of Education voted yesterday to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards for use in Kentucky’s public schools without even questioning this particularly problematic part of the package (which was brought to the attention of several board members before the meeting): ESS3.D: Global Climate Change • Human activities, such as the release of…
Today at 4:30 p.m. ET, Bluegrass Institute education analyst Richard Innes will be on WLAP to discuss the recent controversy about Common Core State Standards. You can listen live here.
There is no shortage of discussion about this highly restrictive contract I ran into Donna Hargens, the superintendent of the Jefferson County Public School District at yesterday’s meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education. I wished her well as she starts what could be the most important teacher’s contract negotiation in Jefferson County Schools’ history.…
Meanwhile, Kentucky Board of Education reaffirms commitment to Common Core National Review on Line is reporting that “Michigan Delays Common Core Implementation.” So, Michigan has joined Pennsylvania and Indiana in placing holds on their Common Core adoption processes. I am also seeing reports that Wisconsin is getting ready to place some sort of restrictions on…