This is the first year Maryland students will be taking standardized tests based on the new math and English curriculum standards called Common Core. Proponents of Common Core say the goal is to raise learning standards from memorization to critical thinking, and to measure how prepared students are for the next grade, college and careers. Some parents in Maryland, as elsewhere around the U.S, are opting out of national standardized tests.
One of those parents is Ben Dalbey, a parent of third-grader and kindergartner in Baltimore, he joins us in the studio. By phone is Jesse Hagopian in Seattle, where he teaches history at a high school where half of the students this week decided not to take the tests. Hagopian will be speaking at Red Emma’s Bookstore in Baltimore Wednesday, April 15th at 7:30 about a book he edited called More Than A Score. Also by phone is Dr. Henry Johnson, assistant state superintendent of curriculum, assessment, and accountability at the Maryland Department of Education.
