Posted on by arotherham

Core Knowledge?

Be sure to check out Sol Stern’s interview with Don Hirsch.   And who can get enough Hirsch?  So, here’s an ES interview with him, too. 

And on the issue of curriculum, this Russ Whitehurst paper is important (pdf).  But, while I think Russ’ point on Bedouins and water-skiing is often right, I’m not sure when curriculum and reforms like choice, teacher quality, etc…became either/or?  Most thoughtful people get that there isn’t anything out there right now that’s going to move the needle on achievement where this nation needs it to be, so we need progress on multiple issues.

Update:  To be clear, I wasn’t implying that Russ made this issue either/or, his paper is measured.   The  link was to the Robert Pondiscio post for a reason.

2 Replies to “Core Knowledge?”

  1. I have to go back and read Whitehurst’s paper again, but I thought he was quite explicit that it was NOT an either/or. His point was that curriculum effects are larger and cheaper than other reform levers. I don’t recall him stating or even implying we should abandon other reform efforts and focus on curriculum reform.

    Some thoughtful people don’t understand why curriculum can’t seem to get a place at the table when ed policy is being discussed.

  2. I have to agree with Robert. Whitehurst doesn’t imply that these are either/or issues. He argues that curriculum is currently absent from mainstream reform discussions. That’s an altogether different claim.

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