Common Core report from the Research Bureau

Reading the new report out from the Research Bureau on the Common Core, I'd say that I have two issues (which is good, actually!):

• It's a little too eager to buy the party lines on Common Core: it was state generated! it was the result of education policy makers wanting it! the funding had nothing to do with the outcome! ...and so forth. I know there's a wish not to be a conspiracy theorist here, guys, but let's not be too naive, either.
• Very specifically, to issue a report on the Common Core in Massachusetts without mentioning that the first round Race to the Top application did NOT accept the Common Core, and was rejected, while the second round DID accept the Common Core, and got the money, is a big oversight. That, and the teacher evaluation piece, were the only two changes, and it was the two sections the fed was most critical of in the first application. That's not a coincidence; it's also not unconnected to a massive infusion of federal dollars.

EDIT: For more on the report, you can read Steve Foskett's coverage here, which also includes my not-very-dramatic view on the standards and their impact. 

 

Appreciate the change in tone from the Research Bureau, there, though!