Jury’s Out on the New Standards
So far, around 35 states have adopted the Common Core K-12 academic standards written by the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officials. The likelihood is that eventually all but two states — Texas and Alaska — will approve the standards, which were strongly backed by the White House.
However, an education blog published by the National Journal says “the jury is out on whether these new standards will be superior to existing state standards and/or serve to better inform education policy.” The blog cites a skeptical policy briefing written by University of Colorado professor William Mathis, who points out that nations that have national standards, and those that don’t perform equally well on international tests. Mathis also worries that the standards were cobbled together too quickly and with no field testing.
Yet, the blog also notes that the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has released a new study that found that the Common Core standards are largely superior to the academic standards in 33 states. Fordham President Chester Finn Jr. told Education Week that if the standards are implemented nationwide, “kids in about three quarters of the states will clearly be better off than they are today.” Back to you, Professor Mathis.
Filed under: K-12 Education News
