The OLD (former) Common Core

[JHS]

<p>This 1998 NY Times article describes the change, in general terms: [University</a> of Chicago Comes to a Fork in the Road](<a href=“http://pages.nyu.edu/~fmh1/classes/innovations_in_higher_ed/chicago.htm]University”>http://pages.nyu.edu/~fmh1/classes/innovations_in_higher_ed/chicago.htm)</p>

<p>As far as I can tell, they dropped one quarter of science, one of math, and one quarter of humanities/civilization. I believe (but I’m not positive) that they also instituted the “limited Chinese menu” approach to Hum and Sosc and the sciences, and the arts distributional requirement, at that point; before that everyone theoretically took the same courses, although individual teachers could vary what they taught and how they focused.</p>

<p>The article is great reading for understanding how much of a sea change Chicago has been through in the past 12 years:</p>

<p>– Undergraduate population was 3,500; now it is about 5,500
– It got 5,500 applications, and accepted 60% of them
– Graduation rate was around 83%, largely because of students transferring out
– Alumni children attended Chicago at about 1/3 the rate that HY alumni children attended those college
– Study abroad was discouraged</p>

<p>The article has some great quotes, too:</p>

<p>

Bertram Cohler, a professor of psychology and education, put it this way: “This is a dirty, intense place in a grubby city. You can only smooth some of its rough edges. Of course we want some students who will join the Junior League, but also those who don’t shave, have bloodshot eyes and read Kierkegaard at 3 in the morning.”</p>

<p>Nobody at the university opposes reading Kierkegaard at 3 in the morning. Even its most ardent reform advocates say they are seeking to ensure Chicago a long and healthy future, to preserve, not destroy, its rigor and unique intellectual environment. But to do so, they say, requires change.</p>

<p>“Curriculum design at Chicago is a contact sport and that is just as it should be,” observed Hugo Sonnenschein, the university’s president for the last five years.

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