California’s Common Core Apologia

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In a recent blog, Dr. Michael Kirst, past president of the California State Board of Education, attempts to defend his record of Common Core implementation during that period. But policy experts Ze’ev Wurman & Williamson Evers set the Golden State's record during Common Core straight.

The Education Writers Association casts its narrowing gaze on Boston, May 1-3

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Many billions have been spent, and continue to be spent, promoting…

Fordham’s PARCC v. MCAS Report Falls Short

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Guest post by Richard P. Phelps The Fordham Institute has long…

West Virginia, Massachusetts and why the End Common Core ballot is going forward

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When it comes to the "confidence game" that has been played around…

Pioneer Statement on Next-Generation MCAS Announcement

We applaud the Baker administration for proposing that Massachusetts…

Fordham report predictable, conflicted

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Guest Post by Richard P. Phelps On November 17, the Massachusetts…

What True Education Reform Leaders Think About MCAS & Charters

An op-ed in Tuesday's Boston Globe urges Massachusetts policymakers…

Statement on 2015 MCAS Results and Preliminary, Incomplete 2015 PARCC Results

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The release of 2015 MCAS results together with a patchwork of…

How Massachusetts Promoted Achievement Before Common Core & PARCC

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Before the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education…

RIP PARCC

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Economies of scale are when a large operation can provide advantages…

Why Massachusetts Should Abandon the PARCC Tests & Common Core

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It is difficult to find any public analysis and comments by teachers,…

Is it Time to Rethink State Boards of Education?

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Some political officials (Governor Sandoval of Nevada) and self-described…

Don’t Waste the Crisis over Common Core

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The entire Common Core project is rapidly going south, and within…

Arne Duncan, fiction writer

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News flash for Washington watchers!  Now we know what Arne Duncan…

Steps for States to Follow to Replace Common Core

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To help out governors and state legislatures that really want…

Common Core’s standards can be replaced by first-rate standards overnight

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In a funny story in the Washington Post on December 24, 2014,…

How to Make Common Core Useful?

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What could be done to make the idea of a common core across 50…

How to Maintain the Massachusetts “Education Miracle”

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Not by using Common Core-based standards and tests, for sure,…

Jeb Bush’s Rhetoric and Reality on Common Core

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Pioneer Institute respects Governor Jeb Bush’s education reform…

How Colleges Are Dumbing Our Kids Down, Too, and What We Can Do About It

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It’s not just Common Core’s standards and the curriculum…

Those Mathematical Societies That Supposedly Endorsed Common Core’s Standards Didn’t

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Stanford University mathematics professor R. James Milgram included…

BPS’ all-in adoption of PARCC is bad for kids, and is illegal

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A front page article by Jamie Vaznis in the Boston Globe…

Doubling Down on Doublespeak

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This past week, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by…

We Now Have a Smart Exit Strategy from Common Core

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Rick Hess and Mike McShane back in the spring wrote in the…

On Common Core, a Study in Contrasts

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In a front-page article in June, the Washington Post featured…

7 Major Differences between No Child Left Behind and Common Core/Race to the Top

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1. Focus of Accountability: Schools or Teachers Under No Child…

How to Turn a Sow’s Ear into a Silk Purse

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Gates, Duncan, Fordham et al misunderstood from the beginning…

The Globe on Common Core and Poetry

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It is not stereotyping poets to say that they burn with a particular…