The Origins of the Common Core : How the Free Market Became Public Education Policy

Owens provides a historical analysis of the ideological movements and reform efforts leading to the Common Core State Standards, beginning with conservative criticism of public schools in the 1930s and culminating in a convergence of the political right and left in efforts to systemically reform education based on free market principles. How did a movement so contentious as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) become public education policy throughout the United States? Deborah Duncan Owens provides an insightful historical analysis of the CCSS, beginning with conservative criticism of public schools in the 1930s and culminating in a convergence of the interests of the right, the left, and corporate America in systemically reforming education based on free market principles. Through an in-depth tour of education policies and movements over thirty-five years, Owens clearly identifies the advocates, politicians, authors, and thinkers who paved the way for the dominant way of thinking about public education in the United States today Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Foreword 8 1 The Nation Was at Risk and the Public Schools Did It 11 The Creation of the Department of Education 12 The National Commission on Excellence in Education 16 A Nation at Risk: The Evidence 17 The Imperative for Educational Reform: The Nation Was at Risk 27 Blue Ribbon Schools 35 The Politics of a Nation at Risk 35 2 Public Schools: Conservative Coalescence and the Socialist Threat 39 Albert Jay Nock: The Problem with Education 42 The Progressive Educators 46 Friedrich A. Hayek: From the Darkness a Conservative Voice 50 The Cold War: Stoking the Conservative Attack 52 Socialism and the Intellectual Thrust Against Public Schools: Bell, Smith, and Bestor 55 The Educational Wasteland of Public Schools 58 Russell Kirk: The Founder of Modern American Conservatism 61 Frank Chodorov: The Disciple of Nock 62 William F. Buckley Jr.: Public Intellectual of the Conservative Right 63 Segregationists, Conservatives, and the Socialist Threat 66 The Conservative Coalescence Bears Fruit 69 3 Friedmanomics, School Vouchers, and Choice 74 The Fundamentals of Friedmanomics 75 Friedmanomics and Public Schools 77 Southern Segregationists 81 Friedman’s Presidential Politics 84 Friedman and Reagan 88 George H. W. Bush, School Choice, and Vouchers 90 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Voucher Programs 94 Opportunism and Vouchers 96 4 Corporate Superstars and an Inconvenient Truth 99 The Fallacy of Public Schools as a Business 103 An Inconvenient Truth: The Sandia Report 106 Systemic Reform and Local School Boards 111 The Business Roundtable in a Democratic Pluralistic Society 114 5 Public Schools and a Third Way of Governing 119 The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Goals 2000 121 The National Education Summit: Willie Sutton Goes Where the Power Is 126 The Palisades’ National Education Summit 127 ESEA: A Reauthorization Redux 132 The Clinton Legacy 134 6 NCLB and the Texas Tall Tale 138 The Miracle That Never Was 143 Reading First: Leaving No Profit Behind 145 7 Education Reform and the Deep State: An Alternate Universe 151 The Wellspring of CCSS: The American Diploma Project 152 Achieve 157 Achieve’s 2001 National Education Summit 158 Achieve’s 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools 160 The Fordham Foundation 163 The Education Trust 166 Out of Many One 168 Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education 169 8 The CCSS: Systemic Education Reform Writ Large 174 Arne Duncan’s Perfect Storm 177 RTTT and CCSS 180 Writing the CCSS: Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste 181 CCRS Development Work Group and Feedback Group 183 The CCSS Validation Committee 184 K-12 Standards Work and Feedback Groups 185 The Validation Committee and the Minority Dissent 188 Coleman, Pimentel, and Zimba: The Architect and the Lead Writers of the CCSS 191 9 CCSS: The Gorilla in the Room for Free Market Education Reform 195 RTTT and Data Systems 196 RTTT and Effective Teachers 200 Value-Added Measurement 206 RTTT: Turning Around the “Lowest-Achieving Schools” as Charter Schools 209 Conclusion: Speaking Truth to Power: Reclaiming the Politics of Education Reform 214 Notes 222 Chapter 1 222 Chapter 2 225 Chapter 3 231 Chapter 4 234 Chapter 5 237 Chapter 6 240 Chapter 7 243 Chapter 8 247 Chapter 9 252 Bibliography 258 Index 283 "This timely book goes beyond the tired debates about the Common Core State Standards and asks instead: How did we get here, with self-appointed "reformers" casting public schools as the enemy, and unproven market models for education as the answer? This comprehensively documented treatment of that question proves that Deborah Duncan Owens is a voice to be reckoned with in education policy debates."--Christopher Lubienski, Professor of Education Policy, University of Illinois, USA; Sir Walter Murdoch Visiting Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University, Australia; and author of The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools (2014) "Deborah Owens offers a detailed probe of the corporate-political alliances that cross party lines to push radical ventures traveling as education reform. She provides a needed history of what is really behind the Common Core, the curriculum and testing it requires, and why anyone who supports the survival of local public schools should care."--Susan Ohanian, Fellow, National Education Policy Center Front Matter....Pages i-ix The Nation Was at Risk and the Public Schools Did It....Pages 1-28 Public Schools: Conservative Coalescence and the Socialist Threat....Pages 29-63 Friedmanomics, School Vouchers, and Choice....Pages 65-89 Corporate Superstars and an Inconvenient Truth....Pages 91-110 Public Schools and a Third Way of Governing....Pages 111-129 NCLB and the Texas Tall Tale....Pages 131-143 Education Reform and the Deep State: An Alternate Universe....Pages 145-167 The CCSS: Systemic Education Reform Writ Large....Pages 169-189 CCSS: The Gorilla in the Room for Free Market Education Reform....Pages 191-209 Conclusion....Pages 211-218 Back Matter....Pages 219-287 Owens provides a historical analysis of the ideological movements and reform efforts leading to the Common Core State Standards, beginning with conservative criticism of public schools in the 1930s and culminating in a convergence of the political right and left in efforts to systemically reform education based on free market principles.-- Amazon.com