Common Core Standards

Hey, I just realized that I have this blog missing. So here it is. I watched the Common Core Standards video for secondary education, and I have to say I am very enthusiastic about its prospects and potential. Even though I know how beneficial it can be to allow states to manage their own education, I always thought it was kind of weird that they didn't have a very specific central curriculum. This makes it difficult, for example, for educational training gained in one state to apply in another state. Often even different parts of a single state may have vastly different goals. Applying a common core standard to every state, that they can build on further but that demands a certain minimum level across the nation, can do a lot to help students get a more global education and ameliorate many of the debates raging around the content of individual state curriculum. This could even have immediate practical benefits in the form of centralizing instruction materials and making things more efficient and cost-effective for schools and teachers. Though it is always important to let the individual community have its own say in the education of its children, I think these Common Core Standards is a good first step on the road to reform.