A 3D Research Group Report by Betsy Kraus
If anyone is in doubt regarding the kind of standards being adopted or adapted in Catholic Schools, please be aware of the following. The Catholic School Standards Project, which produced The Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative (CCCII), has assured us that that a working group began the CCCII “to develop and disseminate resources and guidelines to assist Catholic elementary and secondary schools is integrating elements of Catholic Identity… into curriculum and instruction based on the Common Core State Standards.”[Emphasis added][1]
In addition, The National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) has stated that “The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools… are offered as school effectiveness standards rather than curriculum content standards, although they support curriculum development consistent with national standards and Common Core State Standards.”[2]
The NCEA was part of a collaborative effort in launching the CCCII and is quite active in helping schools implement the standards. There were quite a few workshops regarding these standards at their massive NCEA National Convention in April 2014.
We have been informed by many sources that over 100 Catholic dioceses have incorporated the CCCII Standards.
Keep in mind that the term “effective” -- used to describe the standards -- refers to Outcome-Based Education (OBE) which incorporates the operant conditioning (mind-control) of B.F. Skinner and learning techniques of Transformational Marxist Benjamin Bloom.
Part of the same group that helped formulate the standards of the CCCII also developed the benchmarks and rubrics for the standards. These benchmarks and rubrics encompass the globalist agenda of the public schools. Their terminology includes the same public school terminology, including 21st Century Learning Skills, Higher Order Thinking, OBE, etc.
Some dioceses have claimed to reject Common Core and CCCII, but their curriculum manuals contain essentially the same terminology and teaching methodologies as the public schools. If your diocese has rejected “Common Core,” they may have just shed the term “Common Core” while retaining all the elements of Common Core. Be sure to check their curriculum guidelines or manuals for what is being taught and by what methods.
Endnotes:
1. “Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative”, The Catholic School Standards Project, http://catholicschoolstandards.org/common-core/92-test1
2. ”National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools”, Momentum, February/March 2012, page 14.
