By: Sandra Stotsky – June, 2016 There has been a long, slow decline in the reading level of American high school graduates. Our kids are not reading much at the secondary level, and what they do read may not develop college-level reading and vocabulary skills. Perhaps Bay State English teachers should consider research evidence as […]
By: Sandra Stotsky – May, 2015 It is becoming increasingly clearer that the main groups oppressing parents, local school boards, and local teacher unions with Common Core-based standards and tests (regardless of what they are actually called) are state boards of education and state departments of education. Those in New England states are no better than […]
By: Sandra Stotsky – December, 2013 Unless high school students can prepare for a calculus course in grade 12 or as college freshmen, they are unlikely to become science, engineering, or mathematics majors. Common Core doesn’t let them. James Milgram’s analysis in Lowering the Bar makes that very clear. Interestingly, Jason Zimba, the lead writer […]
By Sandra Stotsky – July, 2013 Why Massachusetts needs to defund implementation and testing of Common Core’s current standards In this essay, I suggest why Common Core’s English language arts and mathematics standards need revision before further implementation in any Common Core state—and well before tests are given that are based on these flawed standards. […]
By Sandra Stotsky, special to the Valley Patriot Why Massachusetts needs to defund implementation and testing of Common Core’s current standards In this essay, I suggest why Common Core’s English language arts and mathematics standards need revision before further implementation in any Common Core state—and well before tests are given that are based on these […]
By: Sandra Stotsky – November, 2010 SPECIAL TO THE VALLEY PATRIOT “Dr. Ormsby is taking the month off to assess the existential meaning of the election results. He will return in December.” A mesmerizing phrase regularly rolls off the tongues of education experts these days. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan used it in a […]