Anonymous wrote:

If I say that an organization has a political agenda because they say right there on their website that they are against "anti-capitalist, anti-democratic, and anti-freedom orientations", that means that I'm against capitalism, democracy, and freedom?

So, you consider those to be political issues in the US?

If I say that an organization has a political agenda because they say right there on their website that they are against "anti-capitalist, anti-democratic, and anti-freedom orientations", that means that I'm against capitalism, democracy, and freedom?

Anonymous wrote:

Anti-capitalist, anti-democratic, and anti-freedom orientations",

So--I don't have time right now--but will respond to the other items later.
However, it appears that you are against:
capitalism
democracy
freedom

Wow. Just wow.

Anti-capitalist, anti-democratic, and anti-freedom orientations",

Read up: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Association_of_Scholars

Interesting friends you have there...

Anonymous wrote:http://nypost.com/2015/04/11/common-core-tests-take-the-imagination-out-of-education/

Writer's take against CC.

Thanks for this post. It goes to the heart of the problem--a problem that will not be solved with standards.
I do disagree with one of the premises: that the kids are not stimulated because the parents are not working. In my experience with the population discussed, it is the non working parents who are not interacting with their kids.

This research goes to the heart of what early primary school educators understand about their students. This research is very important to understanding what we should be doing with students from these backgrounds. Standards written with middle class students in mind do not address the reasons why students from poor backgrounds are not learning.

Poverty may have direct implications for important, early steps in the development of the brain, saddling children of low-income families with slower rates of growth in two key brain structures, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

By age 4, children in families living with incomes under 200 percent of the federal poverty line have less gray matter — brain tissue critical for processing of information and execution of actions — than kids growing up in families with higher incomes.

“When we say enrichment, we’re not talking about flashcards or special software,” says graduate student Jamie Hanson, the study’s lead author. “We’re talking about providing normal interactions: talking to and comforting your child, giving children time to play and explore with you out in a park without stress.”

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/24/students-given-wrong-common-core-test-to-take/

Oh, another fail.......

Anonymous wrote:

One of the values of building with others is to learn cooperation; to meet a goal together; etc. There is also design; creativity; planning; etc. If you don't understand the value, then you can't be helped.

I forgot to add: American ingenuity. But Common Core lovers wouldn't understand that.

One of the values of building with others is to learn cooperation; to meet a goal together; etc. There is also design; creativity; planning; etc. If you don't understand the value, then you can't be helped.