On March 10, President Barack Obama spoke at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Conference in Washington, D.C. To view a full transcript of his remarks, provided by the White House, visit Education Reform. Since this site is designed for educators in the United States and abroad to discuss K-12 Curriculum Development, please share your thoughts on state standards versus national standards and on the President's recent remarks regarding education reform.
Excerpt from speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce:
"So let's challenge our states -- let's challenge our states to adopt world-class
standards that will bring our curriculums to the 21st century. Today's system of
50 different sets of benchmarks for academic success means 4th grade readers
in Mississippi are scoring nearly 70 points lower than students in Wyoming --
and they're getting the same grade. Eight of our states are setting their
standards so low that their students may end up on par with roughly the
bottom 40 percent of the world.
That's inexcusable. That's why I'm calling on states that are setting their
standards far below where they ought to be to stop low-balling expectations
for our kids. The solution to low test scores is not lowering standards -- it's
tougher, clearer standards. (Applause.) Standards like those in Massachusetts,
where 8th graders are -- (applause) -- we have a Massachusetts contingent
here. (Laughter.) In Massachusetts, 8th graders are now tying for first -- first in
the whole world in science. Other forward-thinking states are moving in the
same direction by coming together as part of a consortium. And more states
need to do the same. And I'm calling on our nation's governors and state
education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don't simply
measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they
possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and
entrepreneurship and creativity.
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