Changes in Schooling Systems

Some interesting news on school-- One aim of the reformers is to set common (and rigorous) standards nationwide for the teaching of K-12 math, English language arts, and science. Meanwhile the College Board, which oversees the AP program, will eventually revamp all 34 courses to get away from that mile-wide, inch-deep approach to subject matter. Requirements to graduate are becoming more and more difficult in some areas especially if you are home schooled.

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have adopted the new Common Core State Standards for math and English language arts, which set a framework for what concepts and skills should be mastered at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. A separate collaborative, the Next Generation Science Standards, has released a draft set of K-12 science standards that similarly stress acquiring a deep understanding of concepts through analytical scientific inquiry. Those standards have support from 26 states, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Research Council.

The schools are forced to do this and they have no say in what they want to teach, but in reality they can fight against this if they really wanted to. These laws have been around for a while and there is a time and a place for change when it is needed; now is that time.