Common Core School Standards Work Against Christian Education

Research for this article included portions of the story from

http://www.christianpost.com/news/common-core-hurts-education-biblicalknowledge-100457/
David Coleman is a non-English teacher who wrote the Common Core national English language
arts (ELA) standards. According to Mr. Coleman, students "educated" under Common Core will be
better readers and better able to understand Scripture, and thus will enjoy deeper and more
satisfying spiritual lives. Coleman has no evidence to support his claim and in fact, history and
objective research show that the opposite actually is true.
The central organizing theme of the Common Core ELA standards is that study of creative literature
must be diminished in favor of nonfiction "informational texts." The idea is that students should be
drilled in the types of documents they are more likely to encounter in their entry-level jobs. This may
make Common Core a workforce-development tool, but certainly not an education model.
Dr. Sandra Stotsky and Dr. Mark Bauerlein have shown that "classic literary texts pose strong
challenges in vocabulary, structure, style, ambiguity, point of view, figurative language, and irony."
Isn't this the kind of reading students need to be able to understand Scripture: stories, parables, and
creative literature?
In fact, most people intuitively understand that great literature creates great readers. For centuries,
the best educated people were those who read the classic literature, not only from the day but from
throughout history. This is validated by the Massachusetts experience. Massachusetts rejected the
workforce-training model in 1993, embracing instead a reading curriculum rich in high-quality
literature. The result? Massachusetts SAT scores rose for 13 consecutive years beginning in 1993,
and Massachusetts students routinely scored highest in the nation on national reading tests.
Unfortunately, Massachusetts recently rejected its high standards for Common Core.
The fundamental problem with the Common Core reading approach is that, to achieve its job-training
goals, it does not differentiate between a technical handbook and biblical scripture they are both
just complex text. A great work of literature has value far beyond the complexity of the words used
it allows students to understand the eternal human condition; it allows them to confront human
challenges that recur throughout the ages; it shows us our frailties as well as our ability for
greatness; it transports the readers to places and times not their own. The Common Core ELA
standards are focused on creating workers, not better people; on training followers, not training
creative and analytical thinkers. On outputting a low-standard high-school product, not people who
are looking to be the best people they can be.
So, Christians should ask exactly what types of texts are being offered. Why does Common Core
reduce the type of texts that can actually help develop good Christian men and women and that

comprise most of the Scriptures? Students deprived of the great stories are less likely to embrace,
fully, the greatest Story Ever Told.