Over at Core Knowledge, beneath a little discussion of the nature of Finland's standards between Diana Senechal and me -- best conclusion, Finland doesn't have "standards" in the sense we use it now in the US -- "A Student of History" throws in:
Is anyone else concerned that yesterday’s announcement that Pearson is acquiring Americas Choice for $80 million coupled with Americas Choice having received the franchise to develop the high school assessments for Common Core means we have a de facto national curriculum now
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/08/prweb4346464.htm
Will the Pearson math textbooks and the Americas Choice ELA products be the national curriculum under Common Core?
Can anyone come up with a better explanation for this acquisition and the timing?
The Finns refer to it as the national curriculum but on this side of the pond it feels much more like standards.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.oph.fi/english/education/basic_education/curriculum
What I like is the flexibility built into the system... Pasi Sahlberg has done some excellent work on the Finnish model.
http://www.pasisahlberg.com/downloads/Education%20policies%20for%20raising%20learning%20JEP.pdf
Even as a Canadian I find this frightening. It makes me more and more interested in DIY education resources, publishing and information. Like the Make tell us: "If you can't take it apart, you don't own it." Same thing might go for locating, evaluating and producing educational resources.
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