Indiana ELA Standards “Clearly Superior”

Read Heather Crossin’s January 16th, Indianapolis Star letter to the editor, entitled Corporate interests behind Common Core.

She sets the record straight about the finding of the Fordham Institute report, “The State of State Standards – and the Common Core in 2010,” which categorized Indiana’s English Language Arts Standards as “clearly superior” to those of the Common Core.

She quotes the following from the Fordham report:

“Indiana’s standards are clearer, more thorough, and easier to read than the Common Core standards. Essential content is grouped more logically, so that standards addressing inextricably linked characteristics, such as themes in literary texts, can be found together rather than spread across the strands. Indiana also frequently uses standard-specific examples to clarify expectations. Furthermore, Indiana’s standards treat both literary and non-literary texts in systematic detail throughout the document, addressing the specific genres, sub-genres, and characteristics of both text types. Both Indiana and Common Core include reading lists with exemplar texts, but Indiana’s is much more comprehensive.”

When even a group that receives money from the Gates foundation, as the Fordham Foundation does, produces what is likely intended to be a pro-Common Core document and can’t help but document that Indiana’s previous standards were superior, it’s obvious Indiana has been duped into purchasing an inferior product!

She also points out that the two groups rushing to defend the Common Core in Indiana, have received millions of dollars from none other than the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the primary drivers of the Common Core engine.