A December 9 article on the recent Newton School Committee decision to align NPS’s graduation requirement with state guidance referenced an interim report from the Chair of the Massachusetts K-12 Graduation Council, Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, that offered an important insight: “Based on information issued by the state last week, it’s unclear how, or if, the vast majority of NPS students will experience any meaningful changes in their high school experience.” This is correct, but not for the reasons readers might think.
First, although the report’s cover page implies that it is authored by the Graduation Council, Secretary Tutwiler and DESE Commissioner Pedro Martinez determined all the report’s recommendations without a vote by the 30 other Council appointees. The report was not written by the council.
The substance of the report fails to offer meaningful change because it ignores basic principles of curriculum design that any first-year teacher knows. Referred to as “backward design,” the process first establishes goals and outcomes, then creates assessments to measure attainment of those goals, and lastly plans educational experiences aligned with both. This ensures a coherent, accountable curriculum. However, the Secretary skipped and rearranged these steps (see page 7 of the report). Instead, coursework drives the report’s entire process in its assumption that MassCore will be required of all schools. Therefore, content acquisition – not skills or habits of mind – is its real goal, which runs counter to both input from commission members and input from its “listening sessions.” The “Council’s” report doubles-down on an outmoded, alienating approach to learning, ignoring the lack of student engagement that underlies the stilted academic progress currently plaguing American education. The Secretary sits foursquare behind a 19th Century solution to a 21st Century challenge.
But why is this…