ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL IS GREAT, UNLESS YOU’RE THE WRONG SIZE Common Core, whatever else may be said about it, is a one-size-fits-all standards regime. Parents of special needs children therefore have every reason to oppose its implementation, whether by name or in some other “Common Core-aligned” form. Although the standards provide for some accommodations for special needs students, …
Posted: October 29, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Does the Education Superintendent Matter?
NOT AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD A recent debate between the two major party candidates vying to become South Carolina’s next Superintendent of Education failed to reveal many substantive policy differences. Both candidates agreed the state’s educational funding system was “outdated,” both expressed support for a limited level of “public school choice,” and neither candidate …
Posted: August 21, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Public Colleges Don’t Need More of Your Money
ONE BLOATED COMPENSATION PACKAGE IS ONLY A TINY PART OF THE PROBLEM Late in 2013 University of South Carolina (USC) President Harris Pastides was making hat in hand entreaties to the legislature for more General Funds for the school. Pastides insisted that the University administration didn’t wish to raise tuition yet again, but they would be …
Posted: August 20, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Common Core: It’s Bigger Than You Think
COMMON CORE IS EVERYWHERE – BY DESIGN. REJECTING IT WILL TAKE MORE THAN A BILL. Across the country, parents and teachers are waking up and forcing their states to reject the nationalized standards system, Common Core. This year in South Carolina, a large grassroots effort forced the General Assembly to pass legislation forcing new standards to …
Posted: August 6, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Why Common Core Fails Special Needs Students
ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL IS GREAT, UNLESS YOU’RE THE WRONG SIZE Common Core, whatever else may be said about it, is a one-size-fits-all standards regime. Parents of special needs children therefore have every reason to oppose its implementation, whether by name or in some other “Common Core-aligned” form. Although the standards provide for some accommodations for special needs students, …
Posted: May 29, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Why Teachers Should Hate Common Core
IN A WORD: INFLEXIBILITY “Common Core has nothing to do with curriculum, instruction, or testing.” No matter how many times Common Core’s most prominent supporters make that claim, it’s still false. Like any set of strict academic standards, Common Core standards directly affect these areas – and thus remove the ability of teachers to use …
Posted: May 28, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Sadly, Common Core Is Not Dead
IT’LL ONLY GO AWAY WHEN LAWMAKERS LEARN TO TURN AWAY FEDERAL CASH On several recent occasions we’ve heard pundits or public officials – and in one case a candidate for Superintendent of Education – claim that South Carolina has gotten rid of Common Core. If only. Now it’s true that the state Department of Education …
Posted: April 30, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
The Problem(s) with Common Core
WILL COMMON CORE PREPARE YOUR KID FOR SUCCESS? UNFORTUNATELY, NO. Over the last year, we’ve seen a number of pro-Common Core publications that ask and purport to answer some variation of this question: “Will the Common Core State Standards best prepare students for success in college, career, and life?” The answer is No. Standards themselves can’t …
Posted: April 18, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Withdrawing from Smarter Balanced: Q&A
SOUTH CAROLINA MAY WITHDRAW FROM THE COMMON CORE-ALIGNED CONSORTIUM KNOWN AS SMARTER BALANCED. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? With the recent move by the South Carolina Department of Education to remove South Carolina from the Smarter Balanced consortium, there’s a lot of understandable confusion about standards and assessments in state schools. What follows is a brief, …
Posted: April 2, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Educational Freedom: How to Achieve It
HOW TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT EDUCATION IN S.C. It’s no secret that South Carolina has some of the worst public schools and some of the lowest levels of student academic achievement in the country. The most important factors generating this failure are these: (a) a strong reluctance to experiment in education, combined with (b) an unthinking …
Posted: March 21, 2014 by South Carolina Policy Council
Study: More Money, No Improvement
AS EVER, THE EASY ANSWER IS THE WRONG ONE A new study by the Cato Institute reinforces the findings of SCPC and other researchers: more money doesn’t produce better results. The Cato study examines SAT scores from 1972 to 2012 in each state. Student SAT participation rates and demographics are controlled for using an improved …