National Education Standards Initiative Draws Criticism

The Common Core State Standards Initiative, so beloved by textbook author Erik Bryan, is coming under some pretty severe fire from early childhood education professionals. The Alliance for Childhood just issued a statement arguing that the initiative's K-3 standards are all wrong for young children, since they perpetuate the didactic and testing-heavy atmosphere of today's elementary schools. They apparently leave no time for exploration, for play, for hands-on, child-initiated approaches to learning; in particular, the Alliance condemns what appears likely to increase standardized testing in literacy and math in the early grades (please no).

The Gesell Institute also calls the K-3 standards "inappropriate and unrealistic," claiming that they completely ignore what research says about early child development (for one thing, early readers do not have an advantage over later readers). A blogger for the Washington Post concurs, pointing to the NCLB-induced "push-down" effect that asks younger and younger children to do more and more. "Once, schools gave youngsters a chance to learn how to read according to their own development," she writes. "Now, a child who still can’t read by the end of first grade is in deep trouble from which it can be hard to emerge."

Even the Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education is up in arms, claiming that the proposed standards are not up to par for the 21st century since they limit students to a "back-to-basics curriculum that has ignored the profound changes in the last 50 years." Ouch.

I agree that the pressure to conform — and perform — so early on is one of the worst injuries schools can inflict on students. There's some myth floating around (and I guess it floated right into a national education standards proposal) about how earlier is better, that if kids can read and count and recite facts in kindergarten, they're somehow smarter, somehow ahead of their peers, and will somehow achieve greater success later in life. That's false. Research shows any early-reading advantages level out by third grade. And I've heard that some children who are pressured to learn in this way before they're ready may even experience physical developmental delays, since their bodies were supposed to be using that energy to grow, not beef up their readiness for standardized tests.

While the Common Core State Standards Initiative may have looked like an okay idea at first blush, these critiques seem solid. Unfortunately, the April 2 deadline for public comment has passed, but I hope those who did get a chance to comment (the Alliance for Childhood petition, for instance, was signed and supported by big-name experts like Howard Gardner) made their opinions clear.

Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt