The Common Core Ate My Baby and Other Urban Legends

A noted literacy expert dismantles five myths about the new standards and shows what the standards really entail.

Urban legends are plausible stories—told as truths—that revolve around the complexities and challenges of modern life. Such legends are usually told as though they happened to someone the teller knows (a friend of a friend), such as the story about the friend's grandmother who dried her poodle in the microwave. (If these tales are meant to be cautionary tales, I've never been sure whether that one was supposed to warn us of the dangers of technology or of grandmothers.) Sociologists haven't managed to pin down exactly how and why these stories get started, but they're clearly spread by word of mouth and there's usually a grain of truth in them (and sometimes, as it turns out in the case of "the dingo ate my baby" story, more than a grain of truth).

It's not surprising, then, that the recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) by 46 states and the District of Columbia has given rise to anxieties among educators that have fueled the flames of misperception, confusion, and rumor. I explore some of those legends here in the hope of slowing their spread.

So far, no educators have claimed that the new standards have eaten their baby, but if someone claims that the new CCSS assessments have eaten someone's 3rd grader, that story just might catch on.

Legend 1: The new standards prohibit teachers from ...

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