"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

Common Core Faction Tries to Take Over Texas’ English Standards
By Carole Hornsby Haynes  | January 30, 2017   Texas Insider

It seems that Texas is an ongoing battle ground for K-12 standards reviews.  We’re still in a war to get the Common Core process standards stripped out of the math standards  adopted in 2012.  Now the English standards review seems headed for a shootout at this week’s State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting.

Staunch Common Core Supporter Is Top Contender for U.S. Education #1 Deputy
By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D.  |  January 16, 2017  Education Views

Getting rid of Common Core and supporting school choice were both campaign promises of President-Elect Donald Trump.  So it's a mystery why Allan B. Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council under President George W. Bush and executive director of the President’s Council on Competitiveness and deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle, is reported by Education Next to be a top contender to serve as Betsy DeVos’ #1 deputy should she be confirmed.

Common Core Math in Texas?  And Why Has the SBOE Done Nothing to Resolve the Issue?
By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D. Part 4 of the Series: “SBOE kicks Common Core Math down the road”
December 6, 2016  Texas Insider

On November 16, 2016 the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) heard still more testimony about the Common Core process standards that are deeply embedded within the current 2012 SBOE adopted math standards. After several years of public rage over Common Core being found in instructional materials and on STAAR tests despite Texas law, one has to wonder why the SBOE has done nothing to resolve the issue.

Is There A Solution to the STAAR Problem?

By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D. |  January 26, 2017  Texas Insider

Recently Texas State Rep. Jason Isaac, vice chair of the Texas Conservative Coalition & State Representative from House Dist. 45, told Texas Insider Jim Cardle that teachers are spending 46 days of the school year preparing their students to take the STAAR test.

Common Core Math in Texas: Texas Math Scores Drop Worst in U.S., Says Expert
By Carole Hornsby Haynes   Part 5 of the Series: “The results in Grade 8 are virtually catastrophic.” January 11, 2016      Texas Insider

During the 2012 Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) math curriculum standards review, Dr. James Milgram, a member of Common Core’s Validation Committee and the only content expert in mathematics for the standards, reviewed both the first and second Texas drafts.  He publicly declared that the second draft showed every indication of being among the best, if not the best, state math standards in the country.

However, the final draft was dramatically altered in the final version that Milgram received from the TEA. A Common Core format had been added and pure math content reduced.

Common Core Math in Texas: Did the TEA Overstep Its Authority On Math Curriculum Standards?
By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D.  -  Part 2 of the Series, “Common Core Math War Rages in Texas”
November 14, 2016   Texas Insider

In Part I of this series, we explored why Dr. James Milgram, one of the national experts for the Texas Math Curriculum Standards review, is so critical of Common Core.  The only math content expert on the Common Core Validation Committee, Milgram refused to approve the Core Math Standards because of their low expectations.