Dive Brief:
- New York University education historian Diane Ravitch spoke in Nashville Thursday about the Common Core and the need to get teacher input on the standards — and to take that input seriously.
- Gov. Bill Haslam's public review of the standards could be effective if teachers are allowed to share their experiences with the standards thus far, she said.
- The remarks follow Haslam's unveiling of a website earlier this month where parents can provide feedback on the state’s education standards.
Dive Insight:
An frequent criticism of the Common Core is that it was not created by classroom teachers. Ravitch hinted at this by saying, “I’d rather see the teachers review the standards, because I think the teachers know what kids can do."
Tennessee has a very ebb-and-flow relationship with the Common Core and many other school reform initiatives. For example, a report released by the Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation, and Development in September found that the number of teachers who believe the Common Core State Standards would improve student learning dropped by 21% from the 2013-14 school year. The survey also found that 56% of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey wanted to see the state opt out of standards.
Incidentally, Ravitch's talk occurred the same week that Tennessee legislators filed measures to follow suit with states that have opted out of the Common Core.