Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

‘RTT’ Applicants Need Creative Writing, Too

October 04, 2010 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan were neither students, parents, nor teachers when the highly touted education reforms known as “whole language” and “discovery math” wreaked havoc in our schools two decades ago. I was a math teacher in Los Angeles and witnessed the costly consequences.

Pondering the “reforms” of 2010—the Common Core State Standards Initiative and the federal Race to the Top program—I can’t help thinking, here we go again.

Three-quarters of the states have recently adopted new common academic standards in math and English/language arts, partly to boost their chances of winning the Race to the Top grant competition. Eleven states plus the District of Columbia have won. As your Sept. 1, 2010, article “Race to Top Now Faces Acid Test” notes, “The winners of the $4 billion now face the task of meeting the goals and deadlines spelled out in their applications, which they acknowledge will be challenging.”

Race to the Top applications required factual information, like agreeing to adopt common academic standards, using student test scores to evaluate teachers, and having the support of teachers’ unions. The 30 criteria for earning 500 possible points required creative writing, too, like proclaiming lofty learning objectives and proposing clever strategies for achieving them.

The lieutenant governor of nonwinner Colorado suggested that Race to the Top scorers “may not have understood the state’s strategy of outlining broad goals for school improvement while leaving implementation details up to local districts.” Winner Hawaii plans to “boost support to struggling, hard-to-staff schools.” But the state’s education department spokesman expressed concern for “making sure that targeted schools and teachers adhere to the new policies.”

How will Secretary Duncan enforce adherence to all this creative writing? And what of the common-core standards accepted in “a giant wave,” according to your earlier article “Curriculum Producers Work to Reflect Common Standards” (Aug. 25, 2010)? “The major educational publishers are adapting long-standing lines of products to the new set of mathematics and English/language arts expectations,” you write. Imagine who will profit from all this creativity. Before the new standards can be shown to be effective—or not—schools nationwide must all buy the costly textbooks that embody them.

Beware of creative writing supporting unproven learning strategies in the name of education reform.

Betty Raskoff Kazmin

Medford, Ore.

A version of this article appeared in the October 06, 2010 edition of Education Week as ‘RTT’ Applicants Need Creative Writing, Too

Events

Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management
Moving the Needle on Attendance: What’s Working NOW
See how family engagement is improving attendance, and how to put it to work in schools.
Content provided by TalkingPoints

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: May 21, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Quiz What Is the Average Teacher Salary for the 2024-25 School Year? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Quiz Are You Keeping Up With Trump’s Big Changes to K-12 Funding? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Quiz How Is Trump Changing School Discipline Rules? Take This Week’s Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read