Seattle Schools Community Forum

(Editor's note: I seem to recall that some were saying that "Common Core was here to stay." Read on.) This reads like it's from The Onion but nope, it's from the NY Times regarding a taskforce that Governor Cuomo of New York created around Common Core:

The District sent out letters to some kindergarten parents to tell welcome them and given them info on kindergarten readiness as well as a "transition camp" this summer.   The letter is dated May 31st but somehow is just making it to parents' mailboxes.  Oh, and that their kindergartener won't start school until September 14th (not the 9th like everyone else). Schools listed below will delay the start of school for Kindergarten students until Monday, September 14th to hold "Family Connections" visits for Kindergarten teachers and families.  All other students will start school on Wednesday, September 9th.

 Raising the stakes on what kids can do. ( Screenshot link to graphic.) For instance, pre Common Core a 1st grader was expected to read 40-64 words per minute . Under the Common Core, they are now expected to read 69+ words per minute. Common Core has been attacked as developmentally inappropriate for K-2.  I've read the evidence and I agree.  From the blog, Lace to the Top : Common Core continues to place greater demands on our youngest students with little to no regard to years of research on child development. For example, take the Fountas and Pinnell research based guiding reading levels that have stood the test of time. They spent years creating a system that matched students with just right books. They even warned, “…through detailed coding of thousands of readings, showed that when a text is too difficult for the child the process breaks down and the child does not develop inner control of effective actions for processing texts.” When Co...

I come to this issue because of two recent stories about kindergarteners. One was from Oregon where - guess what?  Bad news about testing kindergarteners for "school readiness."  Two state official up the food chain in public education in Oregon called the kindergartener readiness results " sobering ." It is important to have a baseline for each child.  But this pressure of testing and standards - which are not developmentally appropriate for these children - is wrong.  It is unlikely to move the needle and, in fact, is more likely to hurt them.  Every single book or article I have ever read about early childhood  development talks about the learning through play model (which is rapidly disappearing). So then we come to the story from Elwood, New York about the cancellation of a kindergarten play in the name of  "college and career" readiness goals. From  The Answer Sheet, Kindergarten (and even preschool) has increasingly beco...