K-12 | Policy
Common State Standards Move Forward
Posted June 22, 2010
Also in Issue 1, Volume 6:
Local Chamber Gets Involved in RTTT
Watch States for Next Steps in School Improvement
At-a-Glance: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Common State Standards Move Forward
The Common Core State Standards Initiative released their final set of common academic standards on June 2, capping a year-long process of development led by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).
The standards lay out what skills students should learn in English language arts and mathematics at every grade level, K-12. The newly released version of the standards updated those put out in March and reflect feedback from state education officials, teachers’ unions and over 10,000 public comments. Changes include making the final version more usable and structured, including better guidance for teachers, math standards that are easier to test, and a smoother grade-to-grade transition. The standards also now reflect issues raised by the early-childhood education community, such as educating the whole child.
While the Obama Administration has strongly supported the effort (as reflected in programs such as Race to the Top, which call for states to adopt a common set of K-12 standards—although not necessarily this version of common standards), both NGA and CCSSO have made it clear that the federal government played no part in developing the standards.
To set the record straight on this and other issues, the group launched a new website (www.corestandards.org) which includes a long list of FAQs in addition to access to the standards.
In addition to concern on the part of some groups that these “national” standards could become “federal” standards, others have criticized the initiative saying the uniform standards will lead to a dumbing down of curriculum and a loss of control of schools at the state and local level. Other opponents say the standards don’t measure up to rigorous standards already in place in states like Massachusetts and California. In fact, Virginia cited the common standards as one of their reasons for dropping out of the Race to the Top competition.
States will now begin to adopt the standards depending on the laws of each state, some through the state board of education, and some through the state legislature. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia signed on to help develop the standards at the beginning of the process. Six states have already adopted the standards tentatively, based on earlier drafts, and with the Race to the Top competition requiring state action by August 2, the remaining states must make a decision soon.
ED Launches New Data Website |
|
Tracking federal education grants and applications just got a bit easier. This past week, ED launched a new website to “serve as a one-stop shop where practitioners, researchers, and the public can access information about Department grant programs.” The site sets a new standard for the availability of information on grants that have been submitted. In addition to a full listing of the i3 grant applications, it provides details including a summary of the application, grant partners and the amount of funding requested. The site also allows you to search grants by state and locality — giving business leaders the ability to search for programs and initiatives within their region which they might otherwise not have been aware. The site is a pilot project and ED is seeking feedback from users which may be submitted by going to the site’s main page at: www.data.ed.gov |
Download ICW's Education Stimulus Report (Vol. 1, Issue 6) (pdf)
Events »
Annual Summit - Connecting the Dots
September 17, 2013 to September 18, 2013
The Institute for a Competitive Workforce will hold its annual education and workforce summit on September 17 & 18 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. Details to come.