> Here's what education looks like now. Hard to figure out what is more
> abysmal: the writing or the thought behind it.
>
> http://engageny.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/common-core-shifts.pdf
Ah, now this little chunk of neoliberal turpitude is too monstrous to leave unskewered.
> Students read a true balance of informational
> and literary texts.
"Informational" = subpar sludge written by for-profit sleazoid companies, "literary texts" = copyright monopolies by for-profit publishers.
> Content area teachers outside of the ELA classroom emphasize literacy
> experiences in their planning and instruction
Yep, nothing teaches reading like math. Or math like reading. Or astrophysics like chemistry.
> Students read the central, grade appropriate text around which
> instruction is centered.
Not a word about writing, editing, drafting, brainstorming, discussing, or any other form of intellectual capacity. This model of reading is "shut up and follow the rules".
> Teachers insist that classroom experiences stay deeply
> connected to the text on the page
No interpretations needed, because the test knows all. Sanctified be the test. Hallowed be thy bubble-scores. Etc.
> Writing needs to emphasize use of evidence to inform or make an argument
> rather than the personal narrative and other forms of decontextualized
> prompts.
Savor the irony - these so-called education reformers can't write worth a lick.
> While the narrative still has an important role, students develop skills
> through written arguments that respond to the ideas, events, facts, and
> arguments presented in the texts they read.
Translation: students are forbidden to write their own stories, to dream, to think for themselves, or to aspire to do anything other than load bullets into guns, or change the oil in the french-fry machine.
> By focusing strategically on comprehension of pivotal and commonly found
> words (such as “discourse,” “generation,” “theory,” and “principled”) and less
> on esoteric literary terms (such as “onomatopoeia” or “homonym”), teachers
> constantly build students’ ability to access more complex texts across the
> content areas
Ah, so the problem with our educational system is an excess of onomatopoeia.
I feel like I've been given an involuntary tour into the minds of the Koch brothers -- the Kurtzes of neoliberalism's heart of darkness.
-- DRR