Look at the second statment in the CCC mission statement.
“The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.”Keep in mind they are talking about the new standards. In the case of history and science these are standards that don’t exist. They have not been written. They are not going to be written, but more on that another time. Also keep in mind that they said the same thing about the last set of standards.
Understand Edu-speak. “Robust and relevant to the real world” to people in education means that it is designed for people who cannot read and can’t work on their own. We recently had an in-service to train us for the new standards and almost every strategy presented involved drawing pictures. Every strategy involved some kind of group work.
They are so concerned about rigor that they are already taking class time to try to train the kids to take the new tests which have not been written yet. They involve working on computers. There are hints that they will involve group work. Although there are places in life where group work is necessary we usually call them committees. Everyone knows that if you want to look busy and get nothing done you form a committee.
As for skills they will need in college, from what I am hearing that isn’t much any more either.
Get ready. One of the cartoons I enjoyed showed a student looking at a book and asking where you installed the batteries. It is getting too close to the truth.
homo unius libri
Sad, but true.
ReplyDeleteAt least they can feel good about themselves. The teachers, not the students.
DeleteGrace and peace.