The Purpose of this Blog

While there's been a huge amount of justified protest against the Common Core, it's important to understand what makes the Common Core Curriculum bad at an educational level. The purpose here is to discuss the Common Core in depth and go over at a pedagogical level why it's bad for education. Ultimately the goal is for this blog to become a resource for teachers, students, parents, and all other concerned people to turn to to find in-depth criticism and analysis of the Common Core Curriculum.

I would like to suggest a few rules here:

First: Contributions are welcome, especially by educators. Contributions should address specific aspects of the Common Core rather than it in entirety. The reason is that there are lots of excellent resources that do this already. (A great place to start is Diane Ravitch's excellent blog.) This will make clear as to what are the specific issues of this curriculum and why it's harmful to children and educators. Links to the Common Core Curriculum are on the sidebar of this blog.

Second: The purpose of this blog is not political but educational. The Common Core has a lot of political support, that support is coming from both sides of the aisle. While the most destructive aspects of the Common Core are coming from the current Democratic administration, it began in a Republican one as No Child Left Behind. Overtly political comments or attacks have no place here. I certainly have a political point of view, but as an educator it has no place in the classroom. What belongs there is good education.

Third: The point should be made that there are better curriculums than the Common Core. As we post criticisms, let's do our best to create a better curriculum.