Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky of Pioneer Institute wrote “How Common Core’s ELA Standards Place College Readiness at Risk” in the September issue of A Pioneer Institute White Paper.
The authors look at the core requirements of literature-historical standards and ask whether by learning these ELA concepts students are prepared for college. They state that their two goals are to get educators first, to accept the Common Core ELA standards, and second, to add to and improve the standards. Bauerlein and Stotsky describe how the ELA curriculum has changed over the years—how students are required to read simpler texts for shorter periods of time.
Last Friday, Education Week published this review on Bauerlein and Stotsky’s article. While the Common Core attempts to create clearer curriculum standards, the standards themselves emphasize the wrong readings, and as a result, leave students further behind in the classroom.
