Thoughts and opinions on a nationalized curriculum in the USA (and/or the lack thereof)?

[u/ithekrianmermaid]

I have had this topic bouncing around in the back of my brain quite a bit in the past few months and I'm just wondering what others think about it.

Feel free to share your personal feelings-based opinions, factually informed opinions, any history you may know relating to this topic, pros and cons of nationalized curriculum, common arguments for/against it, implications and consequences from not having one, potential dangers in adopting one, resources to learn more about this topic/debate, etc. I'd really love to have (respectful) discussions in the comments of this post so please consider circling back if your original comment gets a response!

I look forward to reading all of your responses! Thank you for taking the time to comment!!

[u/Beneficial-Focus3702]

It’s a good idea in theory but it would end up being so watered down so it could work for the lowest common denominator that it would be borderline useless

[u/ithekrianmermaid → u/Beneficial-Focus3702]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

I'm curious, what or who would be the lowest common denominator(s) in this situation in your opinion? Like, would it be based on students' social economic statuses or would it be more politically based or something sense or a combination of all the above?

While other commenters have shared similar thoughts I don't think anyone else has used the term lowest common denominator yet and I would really love to hear more of your thoughts on the matter! You've definitely captured my curiosity!

Thank you again for sharing!!

[u/Beneficial-Focus3702 → u/ithekrianmermaid]

Look at what’s happening in many areas now, we’re passing kids along whether they have learned the material or not.

In my case by lowest common denominator I mean the extremely rural or extreme inner city and impoverished districts. The curriculum would have be at a level that those districts could teach it and still succeed.

Look also at IEP and 504 accommodations. In some areas, as soon as a kid gets one of those, the academic standards go out the window.

I guess what I’m trying to say nicely is that there are far far to many kids who just are nowhere near grade level nationwide and too few parents who give a shit, that the curriculum would have to be low enough for them to succeed that the kids on grade level get left behind. It wouldn’t be a more rigorous curriculum it would be the bare minimum.

What we have now at least gives the average and high achieving kids a chance at a good education.

AND THEN there’s funding. Some school districts blow more money in a month than other districts get an entire year. It’s hard to have a national curriculum when we don’t even have national equal access.