- “By all means, let us take a hard look at our national obsession with tests and scores and grades, and let us think more generously about what kinds of people we want our schools to develop. Part of such reconsideration would include a reclaiming of the full meaning of cognition–one that is robust and intellectual, intimately connected to character and social development, and directed toward the creation of a better world.” ~ Mike Rose, University of California, LA
- You can have the most outstanding curriculum in the world and the finest-trained teachers in a school, but if you have kids who are unavailable for learning because of what’s going on in their personal lives, it doesn’t matter.” ~ Lynn Linde, Loyola University
- “There’s a lot of fiction being spread about the new [Common Core] requirements to expand the reading of non-fiction in public schools. Some teachers say they have already been forced to cut important poetry and literature from their classes to make way for government reports and lists of invasive plants. To some extent, the complaints appear overblown. Contrary to what some news outlets have reported, no one is proposing to dump “Macbeth” for pamphlets about insulation. Nor is the proposal as ridiculous as some suggest; the planned changes could invaluably broaden students’ reading, writing, and thinking skills. But there’s no getting around it: the curriculum plan also looks almost certain to diminish exposure to works of literature, from Seuss to Salinger. That goes too far.” ~ Los Angeles Times editorial
