[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 138 (Saturday, October 28, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1991-E1992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 LIBERTY COMMON SCHOOL, A COLORADO CHARTER AND CORE KNOWLEDGE SCHOOL, 
                            LAUDED IN REPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 27, 2000

  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, there is great change occurring in 
education today. Parents in the United States are frustrated with the 
results of their childrens' education, which largely is the result of 
government-owned schools' departure from teaching basic knowledge. The 
impressive results of Core Knowledge and charter schools are 
undeniable, and like all good ideas with conclusive results--people 
take notice.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit excerpt from the Lexington Institute's 
September 2000, report by Robert Holland entitled, ``Public Charter 
Schools and the Core Knowledge Movement.'' This report details the 
success of Core Knowledge schools. I am proud to say the report also 
references the success of Liberty Common School, located in Fort 
Collins, Colorado, in which my children are enrolled. Liberty Common is 
a Core Knowledge charter school which not only exceeds the State of 
Colorado's standards, but Liberty Common also leads its school district 
as well. Mr. Speaker, I submit the Lexington Institute's report for the 
record:

         PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS AND THE CORE KNOWLEDGE MOVEMENT

       A battle raged throughout the 20th Century over the best 
     way to teach children--by teacher-directed, content-rich 
     approaches or through a ``progressive'' method by which 
     children direct their own learning.
       It rages still, with progressivism continuing to exert a 
     strong hold, despite mounting evidence that teacher-directed 
     instruction using a core curriculum works best for most 
     children.
       Core Knowledge schools have risen to meet the need and 
     demand for schools that teach children facts in a sequential 
     manner, so that they gain the vocabulary and knowledge base 
     for further learning. Implementation of a Core Knowledge 
     Sequence started in 1991 with one school in Florida; this 
     fall, there will be 1,100 Core Knowledge schools operating in 
     46 states. The parallel charter school movement offers 
     opportunities for parents and teachers to start Core 
     Knowledge schools.
       A basic purpose of Core Knowledge and its founder, Dr. E.D. 
     Hirsch Jr., is to advance equity in education by ensuring a 
     full education for all, including children from low-income 
     and minority homes.

         PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS AND THE CORE KNOWLEDGE MOVEMENT

       In the past 30 years ample research has made possible a 
     definite conclusion: Tightly focused teacher-directed 
     instruction is more effective for most children than is 
     child-directed instruction in which the teacher acts purely 
     as a coach, mentor, or facilitator. For instance, a 1999 
     American Institutes of Research look at two dozen models of 
     ``whole school'' designs reaffirmed the superiority of 
     largely teacher-directed approaches like Direct Instruction, 
     Success For All, and Core Knowledge.
       Yet despite repeated proof that this is so, large segments 
     of the education world stubbornly ignore this reality. They 
     remain wedded to the so-called progressive doctrine. In

[[Page E1992]]

     her important new book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School 
     Reforms, education historian Diane Ravitch documents how the 
     progressive movement, championed most notably by philosopher 
     John Dewey, has exerted a powerful hold on American education 
     from the early days of the 20th Century to the present. Ms. 
     Ravitch argues powerfully that American schools must return 
     to their basic mission of teaching knowledge.
       There can be little doubt that most parents prefer the 
     traditional, structured approach over progressive ways. 
     Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research organization, 
     repeatedly asked parents during the 1990s what they expected 
     form their children's schools. Invariably parents of all 
     races and backgrounds wanted schools that taught the academic 
     basics, with attention to children being able to speak and 
     write standard English. Parents also wanted schools where 
     children were expected to obey rules, such as being ``neat, 
     on time, and polite.'' But Public Agenda found quite 
     different goals among professors in the teacher-training 
     schools, where strains of progressivism still exert a 
     powerful grip. True to the old-time gospel of John Dewey, 
     most professional educators thought advancing ``social 
     justice'' more important than teaching children knowledge. 
     Unlike parents, these teachers of teachers wanted schooling 
     that is less structured and more ``learner-centered.''

                       The Rise of Core Knowledge

       In 1990, Dr. Hirsch and his allies convened a national 
     conference at which 24 working groups finalized a draft Core 
     Knowledge Sequence for use in elementary schools. The 
     sequence was based on research into the content and structure 
     of the highest-performing elementary schools around the 
     world, as well as consultation with teachers, parents, 
     scientists, curriculum specialists, and others.
       In 1991, the Core Knowledge Sequence debuted in a year of 
     implementation at Three Oaks Elementary in Ft. Meyers, 
     Florida under the leadership of the principal, Dr. Constance 
     Jones (who in 1999 became president of the Core Knowledge 
     Foundation in Charlottesville, Virginia). The Core Knowledge 
     schools were born. The interest in and spread of these 
     schools devoted to content-rich direct teaching has been 
     phenomenal. This fall, there will be more than 1,100 full-
     fledged Core Knowledge schools in 46 states. (Hundreds of 
     additional schools use portions of the Core Knowledge 
     program.)
       Particularly in the very early stages, adoption of Core 
     Knowledge depended on principals and teachers who had to make 
     the case to an often-skeptical school administration for 
     importing a curriculum that rubs against the grain of 
     education progressisivism. James Traub wrote about Jim Coady, 
     a principal in liberal Cambridge, Massachusetts, who had to 
     battle the administration's hostile curriculum supervisors to 
     bring Core Knowledge to Morse Elementary School, which
       With the emergence of the national charter school movement 
     in 1992, Core Knowledge became a viable option for parents, 
     teachers, and others seeking to secure charters to start 
     their own schools. In Colorado, a state evaluation of the 
     performance of 51 charter schools that have been in operation 
     for at least two years found Core Knowledge distinguishing 
     itself both in quantity and quality. Twenty-two of the public 
     charter schools (or 42 percent) used the Core Knowledge 
     curriculum. Among charter schools using a ``whole-school'' 
     model Core Knowledge was clearly dominant--22 versus three 
     for the next-most-used model. More important, Core Knowledge 
     was delivering results. The evaluators concluded that 14 of 
     the Core Knowledge schools ``exceeded expectations set for 
     their performance,'' and the remaining eight ``generally 
     met'' expectations.
       Furthermore, Core Knowledge schools were a significant part 
     of the reason Colorado charter schools scored, on average, 10 
     to 16 percentage points higher on basic subjects than public 
     schools with comparable demographics. There is considerable 
     research indicating that Core Knowledge is bolstering 
     academic success. But first let's look at what the program is 
     all about.

                      The Core Knowledge Sequence

       ``Shared'' is an important word in the Core Knowledge 
     lexicon. In his 1996 book, The Schools We Need And Why We 
     Don't Have Them, Dr. Hirsch emphasized the importance of 
     shared knowledge. Citizens in a democracy need to share an 
     extensive body of information in order to communicate and 
     function fully in society. The same hold in the classroom: If 
     students draw a blank at mention of the names ``Lee'' and 
     ``Grant'' not to mention ``Bull Run'' and ``Appomattox,'' how 
     can they be expected to engage in critical thinking about the 
     Civil War?
       Education progressives claim that knowledge is changing so 
     rapidly that what children learn today will be outdated 
     tomorrow; that schools therefore can at best only teach them 
     ``accessing skills,'' such as how to surf the Internet. But 
     such a rationale does a grave disservice to children, because 
     there is a body of bedrock knowledge--pivotal events in world 
     history, the development of constitutional government, 
     principles of writing and mathematics. And there are 
     masterworks of art, music, and literature--with which they 
     should be familiar in order to be fulfilled individuals.
       The Core Knowledge idea, as summarized on its Website 
     (www.coreknowledge.org), is ``that for the sake of academic 
     excellence, greater fairness, and higher literacy, elementary 
     and middle schools need a solid, specific, shared core 
     curriculum in order to help children establish strong 
     foundations of knowledge, grade by grade.'' The Core 
     Knowledge approach is not to throw tidbits of information 
     helter-skelter at children. Rather the program specifies 
     important knowledge in language arts, history and geography, 
     mathematics, science, and the fine arts, and lays out a 
     sequence for children to master what they need to know grade 
     by grade.

                   Evidence of Core Knowledge Success

       As cited earlier, the 1998-99 Colorado Charter Schools 
     Evaluation Study showed that Core Knowledge schools were 
     contributing in a big way to the success of charter schools 
     in that state. Core Knowledge schools accounted for almost 
     half the charter schools that were studied. And the charter 
     schools outperformed their home districts and schools with 
     comparable socioeconomic profiles.
       From other states and researchers evidence of the positive 
     effects of Core Knowledge has begun tumbling in. One of the 
     most impressive studies was done by Gracy Taylor and George 
     Kimball of the Oklahoma City Public Schools. Their study 
     paired 300 Core Knowledge students with 300 students in other 
     schools who had the same characteristics as the CK students 
     on seven critical variables: grade level, pre-score, sex, 
     race/ethnicity, eligibility for free lunch, Title I services, 
     and special education. The control students were randomly 
     selected via computer according to those variables.
       The researchers studied the effects of implementing one 
     year of Core Knowledge in grade 3, 4, and 5. The well-
     validated Iowa Test of Basic Skills was the measuring stick. 
     Given the almost identical backgrounds of the two groups of 
     students, one might have expected one-year differences to be 
     less than pronounced. However, the study found that Core 
     Knowledge students made significantly greater gains in 
     reading comprehension, vocabulary, science, math concepts, 
     and social studies. Moreover, the greatest gains, which came 
     in reading, vocabulary, and social studies, were judged to be 
     ``highly significant.'' The effect of raising vocabulary--the 
     best predictor of academic success--was particularly 
     noteworthy, because it shows hope for closing the 
     socioeconomic gap in student achievement.
       The researchers remarked that ``according to the literature 
     and personal conversations with Dr. Hirsch prior to the 
     analyses, the impact on student achievement related to Core 
     Knowledge instruction should be most pronounced in vocabulary 
     and comprehension. The implementation of the Core Knowledge 
     scope and sequence is intended to provide and develop a broad 
     base of background knowledge that children utilize in their 
     reading. According to Dr. Hirsch's cultural literacy theory, 
     the more background knowledge a child has, the greater 
     facility in reading the child will have. The initial results 
     of this study do appear to support that notion.''
       In other words, the evidence so far is that the Core 
     Knowledge approach accomplishes what it sets out to do. And 
     if its adherents are right that knowledge builds on 
     knowledge, the results should only grow more striking over 
     the years.

                             Liberty School

       Liberty Common School opened as a Core Knowledge school in 
     Fort Collins, a pleasant community in the Rocky Mountain 
     foothills of northern Colorado, three years ago. Today it 
     enrolls more than 540 students in grades K-9, with a waiting 
     list of close to 1,000. ``It is our goal,'' says headmaster 
     Kathryn Knox, ``to equalize the playing field for all 
     students through a common and rich foundation of content and 
     skills, high expectations and good citizenship.''
       Liberty's Board of Directors is composed of seven elected 
     parents. The board establishes and oversees the school's 
     educational and operational policies. It meets twice a month 
     in sessions open to the public.
       Liberty Common is serious about meeting its academic goals. 
     One of them was that the school would exceed state standards 
     as well as the district's, which it did. In all of the 
     reading and writing tests for grades 4 and 7, Liberty Common 
     School ranked No. 1 in the local school district.

     

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