From the News Boston Post ...... Sandra Stotsky, former Senior Associate Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Education, is Professor of Education emerita at the University of Arkansas. The writers who crafted the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the 2015 bill co-sponsored by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) re-authorizing the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA), thought they had worded an airtight case to prevent parents from removing their children from federal mandated testing. States are responsible for ensuring a 95 percent participation rate of all its K-12 students in exchange for ESSA funds. If the rate is less than 95 percent, the US … [Read more...]
Revise or Reject: Common Core’s Serious Flaws
This is an article written in 2013 by Sandra Stotsky, that, 2 years later, is still relevant and on point. Please give it a read: In this essay, I suggest why the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics need revision before further implementation in any Common Core state—and well before tests based on these flawed standards are given. I have been a close observer of Common Core since serving on its Validation Committee in 2010. I found myself unable to validate the standards, for numerous reasons which I have detailed in dozens of papers, articles, reports, op-eds, and blogs. I present here summaries of some of my findings and … [Read more...]