Common Core on Steiny on Common Core

1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

In "Fiction still holds real-life benefits for students," Julia Steiny contends that studying fiction, as she did in her youth, is essential to a complete education. She writes:

My teachers, in the ancient, pre-electronic, pre-politically-correct past, were explicit with us about the high value of classical fiction. Studying authors’ different styles and narrative strategies would teach us to master the English language for ourselves. Becoming articulate would help us to get what we wanted.

However, she feels this approach is becoming obselete, a process accelerated by adoption of the Common Core State Standards:

Ah but, silly me. The new Common Core standards that most states are adopting, thanks to pressure by the Race to the Top grant, will require students to read considerably less fiction.

She recently re-read a book she had read in 9th grade, James Agee's A Death in the Family and felt:

The book, by the way, was lovely. Gentle, elegant prose that captured strong feeling.

But it would never be assigned today. It was far more challenging than most of what high schools now ask of their kids.

As far as inferences, like most short informational texts, there is not much of importance to infer. One can infer that re-reading James Agee's novel inspired this column. One can infer from her leading question about whether or not novels like the Harry Potter and Twilight books are "books that prepare young people for college and career, never mind the slings and arrows of their personally uncertain futures?" that she thinks the answer is "no."

2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

In "Fiction still holds real-life benefits for students," Julia Steiny contends that studying fiction, as she did, is both essential to a complete education and under threat. She begins with a reminiscence of her own high school English teachers who stressed the importance of reading great works of literature to master the language, gain wisdom and perspective on life, and to appear educated. In particular she cites her reading James Agee's A Death in the Family in 9th grade.

However, she feels this approach is becoming obsolete, a process accelerated by adoption of the Common Core State Standards, which place a much greater emphasis on informational texts. She attributes this to the perceived need for "preparation for harsh economic realities, not character building."

She then returns to A Death in the Family, which she recently re-read, "The book... was lovely. Gentle, elegant prose that captured strong feeling." However, she believes the book would never be assigned today. The next part of her column develops her personal relationship to Agee's novel, including how it affected her view of a childhood friend, "Penny Marshall," whose own father had died.

The column then shifts to a long paragraph citing Sandra Stotsky's decision to not endores the Common Core Standards and Stotsky's research on reading practices in high school curricula nationwide, which seem to emphasize contemporary popular literature.

She concludes by considering what her own high school teachers would think of both the Common Core and lightweight popular reading:

My teachers would have considered such assignments akin to studying Nancy Drew, “Peyton Place,” or other leisure-time prose not worthy of a professional teacher’s attention. But then, they were imparting Wisdom...

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m thinking the Common Core has let itself become a bit too common. And not in a good way.

3. Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.

Oh, God, didn't I already answer this question?

In "Fiction still holds real-life benefits for students," Julia Steiny contends that studying fiction, as she did, is both essential to a complete education and under threat. She begins with a reminiscence of her own high school English teachers who stressed the importance of reading great works of literature to master the language, gain wisdom and perspective on life, and to appear educated. In particular she cites her reading James Agee's A Death in the Family in 9th grade.

However, she feels this approach is becoming obsolete, a process accelerated by adoption of the Common Core State Standards, which place a much greater emphasis on informational texts. She attributes this to the perceived need for "preparation for harsh economic realities, not character building."

She then returns to A Death in the Family, which she recently re-read, "The book... was lovely. Gentle, elegant prose that captured strong feeling." However, she believes the book would never be assigned today.

The emotional center of Ms. Steiny's column is this sentence:

I certainly looked at my friend Penny Marshall differently, since I knew her dad had died. So my world did get more nuanced, if not exactly wise.

This indicates how her teacher's lofty goals for literature instruction were met within her in a direct, timeless way. It makes the abstract emotionally concrete, in particular by citing an individual friend's name (although the fact that it is the name of a beloved actress is perhaps a little confusing). It gives a visceral weight to her subsequent policy arguments.

The column then shifts to a long paragraph citing Sandra Stotsky's decision to not endores the Common Core Standards and Stotsky's research on reading practices in high school curricula nationwide, which seem to emphasize contemporary popular literature.

She concludes by considering what her own high school teachers would think of both the Common Core and lightweight popular reading

My teachers would have considered such assignments akin to studying Nancy Drew, “Peyton Place,” or other leisure-time prose not worthy of a professional teacher’s attention. But then, they were imparting Wisdom...

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m thinking the Common Core has let itself become a bit too common. And not in a good way.

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

For a newspaper column on education policy, particularly one extolling the importance of teaching great works of literature, it slips into an informal, chatty tone in places. For example: "Ah but, silly me," "Really?" "Call me old-fashioned." She also uses a first person perspective, and "I," throughout. But while these would be inappropriate in a news article, they are acceptable, and not unusual, for a columnist. She certainly is not limited to this style, as evidenced by complex passages like "Inevitably, she asserted, every one of us would experience deep sadness in our lives. Of course, she was not wrong."

Rhetorically, the main affect of this style is to prevent this column from being too overbearingly schoolmarmish and scolding, and keep it seeming down-to-earth and commonsensical.

5. Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).

The emotional center of Ms. Steiny's column is this sentence:

I certainly looked at my friend Penny Marshall differently, since I knew her dad had died. So my world did get more nuanced, if not exactly wise.

This indicates how her teacher's lofty goals for literature instruction were met within her in a direct, timeless way. It makes the abstract emotionally concrete, in particular by citing an individual friend's name (although the fact that it is the name of a beloved actress is perhaps a little confusing). It gives a visceral weight to her subsequent policy arguments.

6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.

According to the ProJo website, Ms. Steiny is a regular education columnist, an education consultant and a former member of the Providence School Board. Her purpose is in part to make a buck; she had to write something to keep her job. Beyond that, she seeks to promote the value of teaching literature and raise questions about its diminishing role in education, including the Common Core State Standards.

For a newspaper column on education policy, particularly one extolling the importance of teaching great works of literature, it slips into an informal, chatty tone in places. For example: "Ah but, silly me," "Really?" "Call me old-fashioned." She also uses a first person perspective, and "I," throughout. But while these would be inappropriate in a news article, they are acceptable, and not unusual, for a columnist. She certainly is not limited to this style, as evidenced by complex passages like "Inevitably, she asserted, every one of us would experience deep sadness in our lives. Of course, she was not wrong."

Rhetorically, the main affect of this style is to prevent this column from being too overbearingly schoolmarmish and scolding, and keep it seeming down-to-earth and commonsensical.

The emotional center of Ms. Steiny's column is this sentence:

I certainly looked at my friend Penny Marshall differently, since I knew her dad had died. So my world did get more nuanced, if not exactly wise.

This indicates how her teacher's lofty goals for literature instruction were met within her in a direct, timeless way. It makes the abstract emotionally concrete, in particular by citing an individual friend's name (although the fact that it is the name of a beloved actress is perhaps a little confusing). It gives a visceral weight to her subsequent policy arguments.

7. Not applicable.

8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

Claims:

• Ms. Steiny presents her perceptions of her own high school teacher's beliefs about the value of the study of literature. This cannot be proven, but is consistent with the doctrine of the period and quite plausible.
• She also presents her own views on the value of education. These are stated as beliefs, and her assertion that believes those things is convincing.
• The her assertion that "The new Common Core standards... will require students to read considerably less fiction," is, based on my own background knowledge, somewhat overstated, and certainly unprovable. Also, the comparison point is important. Less compared to when Ms. Steiny was in school or less compared to contemporary schools. As is explained later in this piece, the volume of reading in classrooms today may already be much lower than in the past.
• Ms. Steiny's description of the effect of A Death in the Family on her is unprovable but plausible and convincing. It would be resonant with any reader with an appreciation of literature.
• Ms. Steiny's presentation of Sandra Stotsky's views and research are, based on my background knowledge, accurate. I'm somewhat dubious of Stotsky's survey methodology, but I have neither the time nor the expertise to evaluate it.
• Her leading question about whether or not novels like the Harry Potter and Twilight books are "books that prepare young people for college and career, never mind the slings and arrows of their personally uncertain futures?" is unprovable, but clearly she thinks the answer is "no." This is unprovable.
• Ms. Steiny's statement that "My teachers would have considered such assignments akin to studying Nancy Drew, 'Peyton Place,' or other leisure-time prose not worthy of a professional teacher’s attention." is unprovable but likely true based on the doctrine of the period.
• Same goes for "And they certainly would have had no patience with supplanting great works to make room for “informational texts.”
• The statement "I’m thinking the Common Core has let itself become a bit too common. And not in a good way," is unprovable but likely represents her true belief.

This is an argument based on traditional values warning of possible -- and genuinely likely -- changes in the future detrimental to those values. It is not significantly misleading in its presentation of the situation, which is regardless inherently unprovable (what here teachers were thinking in the past, what Ms. Steiny thinks and thought, what will happen in the future).

The only real weakness is the emphasis on the quantity of fiction reading dictated by the Common Core Standards. This is a mistake in argument because it is in strictest terms not true, although likely, especially if the comparison point is her past, not the present. But it is also completely unnecessary, because she's making an argument not based on evidence at all, but values, and the Common Core is extremely weak on the subject of values. Even more than the raw quantity of fiction, the deeper problem is that in the Common Core Standards there is no reason to read fiction other than using it as grist for the academic mill, as source material for the set of eight textual analysis tasks defined by the standards.

Epilogue:

A slightly annoying and redundant exercise, but not awful in itself. Except that those are The Questions You Can Ask About Informational Text under the English Language Arts standards. The standards are specific tasks; only those tasks validly assess the standards, albeit with some variation for form -- discussion, essay, multiple choice.

These are the grade 9-10 standards. The 11-12 version is the same but a little over-wrought. The middle school versions a little simpler. But essentially, that's what one does with informational text for at least seven years. Which will suck.

Unless you sell an integrated automated scoring system and content library, in which case it will rule.