In south africa we have had a national curriculum for some years. It doesn't work really. Here we see the standards continually being dropped in order to help more kids to pass. Of course here we also have the historical legacy of apartheid and everyone trying to desperately right the wrongs of the past.
What it has led to now: Majority of kids now wualify for university entrance. Most of these kids require financial aid to go. Most of them cannot cope with university level work and it is having a three fold effect at a tertiary and market level:
1. University levels are dropping now to accommodate the mass average
2. University degrees here are shifting from 3 to 4 years in an attempt to build in a bridging year - there are compulsory subjects in English, essay writing, reading comprehension etc. for first year students REGARDLESS of school leaving exam results.
3. Kids leave school totally unprepared for working life even if they choose not to study further.
I have several friends who lecture at universities and they are all saying the same things - the more our education standards become nationalised (common) across the country the less we have to show for it.
A new curriculum (again) was implemented in recent years - having read through all the documents during our decision to homeschool I realised that there are major gaps and discriminatory jumps in subject matter. It is only going to drop our national standard to the lowest common denominator. Already we have an anti- anything different policy. Private and govt schools don't do acceleration, not by subject or grade without a drastic, major song and dance all round. As one principal said to me "we don't do gifted here". Now it's getting to where we have govt schools hiking fees to be in a position to hire more teachers to try sneak in extra learning. Problem is with our new national curriculum teachers time in a school day is dictated right down to how many minutes should be spent doing what each day (including recess time!)
We even had one of our own dept of education ladies get fired because she stood up and said that the education non-whites received under apartheid laws was BETTER than what the kids are getting today.
of course, at the moment I am totally anti all formalised schooling as even our only gifted school in the country failed my boys. but honestly for me a national (common) core in a country the size of the USA seems not only a monumental undertaking but a questionable one too. If it doesn't work in small countries, how will it work in the land of the brave and the free?
