Common Core Will Make Schools in U.S. More Like China and That’s Not a Good Thing

One of the supposed selling points of
the Common Core standards is that they are “internationally
benchmarked” in order to make the U.S. education system more
competitive with better systems in other countries. Implement
Common Core, and U.S. students will catch up to Chinese students in
no time—or so proponents of national standards claim.

Even if that’s true, it may not be a good
thing. The
New York Times recently published a fascinating
interview with Yong Zhao, a professor of education at the
University of Oregon. Zhao was born in China; unlike many American
intellectuals, he does not think U.S. schools should try to emulate
China.

“If the United States and the rest of the West are concerned
about being overtaken by China, the best solution is to avoid
becoming China,” he said.

Chinese schools stamp out individuality and make kids spend all
their time preparing for exams that are focused on “narrow
intelligence.” This produces fewer creative and entrepreneurial
people, which is precisely what the authoritarian national
government of China wants, according to Zhao.

Zhao warned that the kind of standardization offered by Common
Core is a danger to a free culture and a free economy. Relevant
excerpts from the interview below:

Q. You have said that traditional Chinese
education actively “harms” children. How?

A. It basically ignores children’s uniqueness,
interests and passion, which results in homogenization. It forces
them to spend almost all the time preparing for tests, leaving
little time for social and physical activities. It also places them
under tremendous stress through intense competition, which can
damage their confidence and lowers their self-esteem.

Q. Is the United States becoming like China in
education? How?

A. The U.S. has certainly become more like
China in recent years. The No Child Left Behind Act has increased
the stakes and usage of standardized testing. President Obama’s
Race to the Top and other initiatives continue to push testing into
schools and classrooms by associating test scores with teacher
evaluation. The Common Core State Standards Initiative has been
pushed to many states, creating de facto national standards in math
and English language arts. So American education today has become
more centralized, standardized and test-driven, with an
increasingly narrow educational experience, which characterizes
Chinese education.

Q. Will this damage America?

A. I believe so. Because a narrow education
experience that is centrally dictated, uniformly programmed and
constantly monitored by standardized tests is unlikely to value
individual talents, respect students’ interest and passion,
cultivate creativity or entrepreneurial thinking, or foster the
development of noncognitive capacities. But it is the diversity of
talents, passion-driven creativity and entrepreneurship, and
social-emotional well-being of individuals that are needed for the
future economy.