This is how Democracy Ends Part II: Dispelling 6 Common Myths of the #CCSS

By Kris Nielsen.  Originally posted at Middle Grades Mastery. 
This is the second installment in the This is How Democracy Ends series. Part one is here.  This is How Democracy Ends–Part II –Reality Check–will give an abbreviated version of why the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is worse than we think and why it has been pushed so hard on states, districts, and schools.  Hopefully, Part Three will be my ideas for action, and my proposal for an alternative to the current reform movement, based on a humble teacher’s perspective.

Let’s look for a moment at a majority (yet shrinking) consensus among professional educators and the perspective that the public has accepted has been fed regarding the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

This is part of a comment left by a professional educator on the first article in this series:

 I have a hard time believing that the whole thing is a ploy to destroy education and teachers. I doubt that our country would maliciously and hurt our children.

I post this comment because it’s a good start to a list of things that teachers and parents have been told to believe and talk about–the first of which speaks to that commenter–we are supposed to trust our educational and government leaders.  They would never hurt our kids or allow our kids to be hurt.  First, let’s talk about what the Common Core State Standards Initiative is and what it isn’t.  Then, I’ll come back to discuss our trust in our country.

Here’s a non-inclusive list of myths about Common Core and standardized tests that professional teachers have all been prescribed (ordered) to accept.  I will touch on why each one is not a truth or a benefit to our kids and the future of our country.

I want more »