Third in a series
Re “Common Core’s Biggest Change: Going Beyond the Right Answer”
[img]2264|right|Dr. Kati Krumpe||no_popup[/img]“In 1998, California had (educational) standards for the first time,” said Dr. Kati Krumpe, in charge of the School District’s current transition from normal standards to full implementation of the militant methodology of Common Core next year.
The first-year assistant superintendent suggested taking a brief detour to illustrate her points.
“When I began teaching – I am a high school science teacher by training – I started with no curriculum,” she said. “I had different levels of biology classes, an honors section, a life science class for struggling students.
“I had a book, but no curriculum. What did I have to do? I was a recent grad from UCLA. I did a lot of anatomy and physiology.
“So I taught what I knew,” said Dr. Krumpe. “It was in the book.
“I do remember a teacher from across the hall saying, ‘Are you still doing that, bones, muscles?’
“The kids loved it. They really did. I got into this difficulty level that they were amazed they were doing.
“About January of my first year, where this orange-bound, soft-bound, 30-page curriculum guide was given to me.
“It was the district’s guide. It said ‘You should spend about three weeks on this and four weeks on that.’ It was by topic. When I looked at what I had been teaching for a long time – I had moved off of it by January – and there were all systems (there are10 body systems), the last three weeks of school.
“While I was doing skeletal and muscular the first two months of school,” Dr. Krumpe said. “Ooops. Too much time. No one told me. This would have been nice to have had. But it still was the district determining what I was supposed to teach.
“The following year I was a little better. It really was not until 1998 the state came out and said, ‘Okay, Culver City, L.A. Unified and everyone else, you are not individually choosing anymore. We are telling you.’”
Ms. Krumpe was asked if that was a good move.
“I think it is a good thing for a minimum level of expectation,” she said, “because when we train our teachers, and we share what is and what is not working, we cannot have a common language.”
Presumably, with the official arrival of Common Core here next September, linguistic and other uniformity will be achieved.
(To be continued)
