Note that one of your potential final exam questions asks you to comment on "new trends" in education. TSSFFAP is over 15 years old now, and some of its "new" trends aren't new anymore--and a lot of recent trends aren't even mentioned. In particular, there's nothing in TSSFFAP about the Common Core.After reading the TSSFFAP "Madness to their Methods" chapter, take a look at Diane Ravitch's blog and read through some of her posts on the Common Core. You might also find amusing the "Students Last" Ravitch mentions on her blog.
What connection do you see between the Common Core and some of the trends TSSFFAP talks about? Does it seem to you that the Common Core is a truly new trend, or does it simply take farther earlier trends like those mentioned in TSSFFAP?
Reading through Diane Ravitch's blog you can see she is not a fan of Common Core standards, and attacks it more for it's political implications than its actual educational benefit or lack there of. My first introduction to Common Core came with my Into to Special Education (SPED 100) class. I had never heard of it before this. In this class it was preached as a good thing to help prevent mislabeling of learning/developmental disabilities across varying school districts and states. From that standpoint it sounds great! Diane's perspective is: these “new” standards now analyze just math and English to decide college readiness. I totally agree that Common Core waters down some states higher standards, and ignores all subjects but math, science & English. Common Core is just another trend...but a successful one. We all seem to be stuck with it until the next great thing comes along. I've seen the difference in my daughter's 1st grade math homework compared to her Kindergarten homework, since Aberdeen Public Schools adopted Common Core over the summer. A lot more critical thinking instead of just rote memorization of addition/subtraction tables like I learned.
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