It's hard to keep track of all the half-truths and untruths swirling around the new Common Core State Standards that 45 states are putting in place. One complaint that seems to have risen to the top of every Common Core opponent's talking points is that the standards will "dumb down" education in the U.S.
Give me a break!
How can anyone make claims that are so estranged from reality? Many of the people who mouth this talking point have apparently never even looked at the standards, much less evaluated their rigor. Those who do know about the standards are simply muddling the issue.
Here's the truth:
- In the vast majority of states, Common Core replaced less rigorous standards. The conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which has long campaigned for high standards, found that the Common Core was more rigorous than standards in 46 states and on par with standards in another five.
By adding the "dumbing down" talking point to their repertoires, many anti-Common Core zealots are contradicting one of their other greatest hits: namely, that the Common Core standards usurp a state's right to set its own standards. You can't have it both ways. Either we yearn for the days when every state had different standards -- most of them a good deal lower than Common Core -- or we value high standards above our nostalgia for the old days.
In fact, neither critique of Common Core Standards holds water. States have voluntarily -- and courageously -- adopted the standards, knowing full well that, at least in the short term, far fewer students will meet the higher bar. For that, they deserve kudos and support.
Change the Equation (CTEq) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, CEO-led initiative that is mobilizing the business community to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning in the United States.