Core Curriculum

Ten years ago I was fully in support of local control and did not support state education standards. However, after watching my former high school graduate students that were ill prepared for college I changed my mind. I support a certain amount of standards to ensure that all students are at least exposed to a uniform and comprehensive curriculum.

The science core curriculum set by the Iowa State Board of Education establishes the essential concepts that are to be taught in Iowa schools. The language is fairly generic and leaves a lot of room for teachers to integrate the concepts into their lesson plans. I like that the curriculum clearly states the basics of what should be covered through Science as Enquiry, Earth and Space Sciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences.

What that said, looking over the curriculum I don’t know how or if all the concepts are being covered by Iowa schools. If you break down the physical sciences section of the 3^rd to 5^th grade curriculum, the State Board wants students to be taught about compounds, liquids, gases and solids, conservation of mass and matter, sound, light, electric currents, magnets, heat and motion. I am fairly sure that all these issues are not being covered, or if they are, not adequately. My 5^th grade daughter was in an Extended Learning Program with five other students when they discussed the laws of motion. Does having six students cover an issue count as fully addressing the curriculum?

What are the ramifications of not covering the curriculum, for the school or the teachers? What if you can’t adequately get it all in? I have heard it many times, high performing countries have text books that are an inch wide and a mile deep. American texts are a mile wide and an inch deep. Have we dug ourselves even wider with the Core Curriculum?