[Book Review] – Drilling Through The Core – Why Common Core Is Bad For American Education By Sandra Stotsky & Contributors

TheBreakaway
Zy Marquiez
June 15, 2016

There are countless books out there on Common Core.  Many of them are rather well done.

However, out of all the books available, this one resonated with me rather well.

Drilling Through The Core, does an exceptional job of detailing both sides of the Common Core issue.

The book’s impartial approach to bring objective analysis to Common Core is something to be highly regarded due to the impeccable way in which the authors/contributors went about in highlighting the disaster that Common Core is becoming.

Carrying out a true nuts and bolt approach, the authors/contributors detail varying components which showcase that Common Core is picking up where the national disaster of No Child Left Behind [NCLB] left of.  And that’s not an understatement either.

There is a reason NCLB has gotten a bad reputation, and its because it doesn’t work.  Countless people/data have shown this to be the case, which ironically is the very reason many are arguing for Common Core.

Along with that troublesome point, the data mining of our children for corporations is also a noteworthy issue to consider.  After all, one thing is information being used for our children’s benefits.  Something else entirely is the information gathered being used for corporate benefits, which of course is what corporations such as the Gates Foundation aim to accomplish.  In the age of mass surveillance/spying and data mining, it’s not surprising that such is the case.

Another nefarious component that’s addressed in the book is the connection Bill Gates and his foundation have.  The unprecedented power that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has had in helping manipulate what takes place with Common Core is downright disturbing.

If that were not enough, the way in which teaching of history is going to take place totally eviscerates the whole point of teaching it in the first place.  And that’s quite noteworthy, because without a solid foundation in history, an individual will not know the context of what is currently taking place, which is priceless.

Delving into what the comptrollers wish to accomplish in math, the executive director of Eagle Form, Glyn Write, notes:

“The math standard focuses on investigative math, which has been shown to be a disaster…With the new math standard in the Common Core, there are no longer absolute truths. So 3 times 4 can equal 11 so long as a student can effectively explain how they reached that answer.”  [P1]

If that doesn’t leave one’s mind spinning, nothing will.

Furthermore, as a contributor notes:

“The Common Core emphasizes teaching students to think of what they learn as “evidence” that can be put to use in making “arguments” as opposed to “facts” that help the student discern how things are.  For the most part, the Common Core steers away from giving students a concrete picture of the world.” [2]

To think, the above are just snippets of the countless issues future generations will face.

If we don’t protect the right for individuals to have a robust and well-rounded education, who will?

We already have some examples of what works, as the book elucidates.  Why not use them?

The future will ultimately rest on how our nation is educated.  It will be up to individuals taking control of their own education, or letting others with nefarious interests do it for profit and control.

Time, and the individual, will tell.

________________________________________________________________________
Sources & References:

[1] Sandra Stotsky, Drilling Through The Core, pg. 48
[2] Ibid., pg. 35