David Coleman, chief architect of the Common Core learning standards, notably quipped in a 2011 speech at the state Department of Education, "As you grow up in this world, you realize people really don't give a (expletive) about what you feel or what you think." With his trademark arrogance, Mr. Coleman revealed all that is wrong with the soulless Common Core standards and its rigid, test-obsessed approach to education.
The Common Core focuses myopically on intellectual skills theoretical children should have when they graduate from high school and then builds backward. However, a good teacher, like a good parent, begins by considering the needs of the real children in her classroom and builds forward. Children are not just walking brains, but bodies, hearts and souls as well. Contrary to Mr. Coleman's crass assertion, our children's thoughts and feelings should be the heart of our schools.
Here are some lessons for Mr. Coleman:
You don't make kids smarter just by making school harder. If you've seen the convoluted Common Core elementary math lessons, you know this. Dictating one method of teaching doesn't make sense, especially when that method complicates simple lessons, frustrating the majority of students. Schools should offer students a variety of ways to approach subjects, increasing opportunities for success.
However, the suffocating standardized tests demand one rigid methodology that does not allow teachers to tailor lessons to their students. Too often, students feel like failures when they are simply not developmentally ready for material or need a different strategy. Success is motivating; repeated failure is not. Build on children's strengths; don't hammer them with their weaknesses.
A happy school creates a productive school. Children are in school for seven hours a day, five days a week, for 13 years. School, especially in the elementary years, should cultivate a child's love of learning. Yet, the Common Core scorns all the creative endeavors (music, literature, art) that inspire students to imagine and dream. Instead of poetry, we now have technical reading. Imagination may not be quantifiable, but it keeps kids invested and ultimately yields far more impressive results than relentless test prep.
Money should be spent on children. Imagine if we stopped paying education gurus, bureaucrats and corporate testing companies, and instead spent that money actually helping kids in need: Free lunch and breakfast programs; social workers and counselors; after-school, mentoring and tutoring programs; and smaller classes.
Schools suffer when the children in them are suffering. Poverty, family strife and mental health issues take a tremendous toll on children. When you are hungry, frightened or depressed, learning is hard, no matter how gifted the teacher.
Education should not be a global testing competition. The solo enterprise of test-taking has little to do with real-life success. The work world requires good interpersonal skills, a strong work ethic and integrity. Schools need to focus more on character and less on competition.
Schools are not just hatching brains but creating future citizens Students also need to learn compassion. Reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" isn't simply about hunting for information. It's a lesson in justice, love and courage that inspires children to care for their fellow human beings. Ultimately, if we don't teach our children to care about each other and the world, what possible good can they do with any skills they develop?
The real common core of American schools is our children, and their feelings, thoughts, and dreams do matter. Let the lessons begin there.
Eileen Riley Hall is a teacher with 20 years experience teaching middle and high school English in public schools. She wrote "Parenting Girls on the Autism Spectrum: Overcoming the Challenges and Celebrating the Gifts."