, Columnist
French Schools Show Pitfalls for U.S. Common Core
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On June 17, tens of thousands of French 18-year-olds participated in a rite of passage for which they had been preparing all their lives: writing the philosophy essay that kicks off the gantlet of national high-school-completion exams required to earn the baccalaureat.
Nothing is easy about this first hurdle. Students are handed an abstract question and given four hours to write a reasoned analysis buttressed by philosophical quotes and cultural allusions. The 2013 themes included: “Is language only a tool?” and “What do we owe the state?” In subsequent days, students will face a battery of similarly difficult tests of their knowledge in other disciplines such as math, foreign languages and science.