Op-ed: Big money pushes PARCC and Common Core

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NewBostonPostEach year, much is written and said about K-12 education when students head back to school. That will be especially true this fall, as the education policy community eagerly awaits a decision by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education about whether to keep the MCAS tests, or switch to assessments developed by the national Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).

The decision will impact not only which test Massachusetts uses to assess student achievement, but also what is taught in Massachusetts public schools. PARCC is aligned with the controversial Common Core curriculum, with its emphasis on workplace readiness. MCAS, on the other hand, was aligned with Massachusetts’ own standards, which emphasized a liberal arts education and were regarded as the highest-quality academic content standards in the country. In other words, Common Core emphasizes skills, while the original Massachusetts standards outlined a body of knowledge that all students should master and understand. READ MORE AT NEW BOSTON POST…

Note: We’re excited about the addition of New Boston Post (NBP) to Boston’s media community, and look forward to its coverage of politics and public policy.

Pioneer Institute will continue its ongoing review of the academic quality, legality and cost of Common Core. Pioneer is the national leader in independent research on the topic.
Read our most recent op-eds, commentary and research on Common Core and Common Core-aligned PARCC.How Massachusetts Promoted Achievement Before Common Core & PARCC by Sandra Stotsky

Study: Common Core & 2 Testing Consortia Violate Federal Laws, Unlikely to Improve Academic Achievement by Williamson Evers

Pioneer Institute Statement on MBAE PARCC/MCAS Study

Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester Should Recuse Himself from Upcoming Decision on PARCC & MCAS

Why Massachusetts Should Abandon the PARCC Tests & Common Core by Sandra Stotsky

RIP PARCC by Scott Haller

Pioneer Institute Calls on Mass. Commissioner to Step Away from PARCC Decision posted in Diane Ravitch’s Blog

Baker, In A Tiff With The Pioneer Inst., Defends Educator Against Claims Of Conflict posted in WGBH News

WBUR RadioBoston: High-Stakes Testing: What Does It Really Tell Us? with Pioneer Institute’s Jamie Gass and Barbara Madeloni,

president of the Massachusetts Teachers’ Association

Op-ed: “Conflict of Interest on school tests” in the Boston Herald
by Charles Chieppo and Jamie Gass

The Argument: Should the state replace MCAS with the PARCC test? by Charles Chieppo in The Boston Globe

Op-ed: “MCAS outperforms PARCC” in The Patriot Ledger, The Taunton Gazette, The New Bedford Standard Times, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette by Tom Birmingham

Op-ed: “It’s PARCC over poetry,” in The Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, The Springfield Republican, and The New Bedford Standard Times by Jamie Gass