Is Common Core the “New Coke” of the Education World?
Remember the days before Common Core? We all kept hearing about the educational renaissance that was coming. Leaving us was the world of scripted curriculum, high stakes testing and unfair accountability systems. A new educational landscape of teacher-driven curriculum, cross-curricular instruction, real-world issues, and a technology rich environment was on its way.
Instead, we got this. Here is an example of a third grade math problem:
Excited now?
What happened to the excitement that we all felt? What happened to the real-world content and college and career ready curriculum?
Before New Coke was introduced, the excitement in the air was electric. It was innovative and exhilarating. An old concept reimaged and reformulated to fit into a new era. According to several different sources, preliminary taste tests should that consumers liked New Coke better than the old formula. Then, the new formula was unleashed upon the public. New Coke lasted only three months. The public outcry was unprecedented and the original formula was reintroduced. New Coke quietly went away.
While, I don’t think that Common Core is going away, I believe that the comparison is sound.
