Dr. Marc Yacht: Inflexible education standards do more harm than good

The debate between proponents and detractors of the Common Core standards is often strident and rarely enlightening.

Opponents charge that the standards are part of a federal government plot to control America’s public schools.  Proponents say our children have fallen behind students from Europe and Pacific Rim nations and that the tougher standards will help our students improve, particularly in mathematics and the language arts.

Common Core standards were drafted to improve education. However, they feature inflexible demands on educators that hinders rather than helps students.

Jobs, raises and funding are tied to meeting prescribed progress.  This leaves many educators frustrated and demoralized because they consider the expectations unrealistic and unfair.

Education historian Diane Ravitch gave an impassioned speech recently to the Modern Language Association.  She stands firmly against corporate-influenced school reform.

Forty-five states endorsed Common Core standards that were released in 2010.  Many are having second thoughts. Florida opted to change the name from Common Core to Florida Core standards.  As Shakespeare’s Juliet said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

What Common Core Is: It’s another effort like the failed FCAT to improve education so that students are better prepared for college.  My criticism is that the focus on accountability is misguided.

Everyone wants our students to learn more and perform better.  Frequent tests and harsh accountability, serious FCAT flaws, undermine efforts to improve education.  Our children should be in a nurturing environment.  They were not with FCAT and they will not be with Common Core.  The stress on teachers, administrators and students will hinder their efforts.  “Teaching to the test” dooms the process to failure.

What Common Core is not: It is not a federal government plot to control our schools or destroy public education.  Government is hurting public education by shifting money from public schools to privately operated charter schools, but Common Core has nothing to do with this relentless wounding of our school systems.

The standards were developed with the participation of the states. The National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers and other organizations took part in drafting the standards.

The U.S. Department of Education was prohibited from exercising any influence over curriculum or instruction in the schools.  The Feds were hands off.  Ravitch, though, is correct to point out that the people who developed the standards did a poor job of communicating how they did their work and that this lack of transparency has hobbled the implementation of Common Core.

Common Core standards are too narrow and pressure teachers to “teach to the test.”  This is wrong and educators know it.  Some students do not have the aptitude for college academics and they should be encouraged to embrace vocational training. Europeans have always understood this.

Standards must include the arts and music.  They are lost in the Common Core regimen.

Meeting Common Core goals should not be criteria for teacher evaluations and school grading.  No other country evaluates in such a manner.  It demoralizes educators.

Schools that score poorly should receive more resources not face penalties.  Poor-performing schools with underperforming students need more resources, not poor evaluations.   The accountability wonks with Common Core have it wrong and backwards. Many students fail because they must cope with bad homes, not bad schools.

Dr. Marc Yacht is the retired Director of the Pasco County Health Department. He lives in Hudson, Fla.