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Measure Up.

The National Standards were released today:

http://www.corestandards.org/

I don’t know why this one took me by surprise–I mean, I knew the national standards were in the works months ago, but what was unknown was that they were in the works at all. Wait. That’s confusing. I didn’t know they were going to be developed. And when I learned that they were, they were already halfway down the road.

And as far as should or shouldn’t they even exist at all is something I’m not prepared to think about right now; on one hand, nationwide standards may help everyone finally get “on the same page,’ which is paradoxically its downside as well. Meaning: the more we tighten our grip on education standards the narrower the scope and sequence of creating the critical thinkers we so desperately want and need for our world’s future.

I have always been in support of my state’s educational standards, and even the state test. As far as Language Arts, the test, in my opinion, assesses reading skills every capable and willing child should know and demonstrate. (Here that students? Yes, you do need to read for your lives.)

I’ll look over the standards as soon as I can. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy watching my students group together for their end-of-year projects, talk to each creatively, and with enthusiasm. And prepare them as much as I can to launch them into young adulthood. I’m sure they’ll measure up.