K-12 Curriculum Development

The Department of Education will seek input from testing experts and members of the public as it decides what state testing will look like under common standards and how tests might best include English-language learners and students in special education. Officials will travel to Boston, Atlanta and Denver to gather advice as they design guidelines for the Obama administration's next competition for education stimulus funds, which will help pay for developing the tests.

Americans have been told that the Common Core State Standards Initiative is not an attempt to create National Standards.  However, this recent article published by Education Week (10/20/09) leads one to believe that Common Assessments are just around the corner.  It would make sense to have Common Assessments aligned with Common Core State Standards.  However, this is a story that should be followed.

What are your thoughts on the future of state standards and state assessments?  Do you feel like the federal government is overstepping its authority to dictate state standards and state assessments?  Is the government using CCSSO and the National Governors Association to create National Standards?  Are the recent changes positive or negative?  Feel free to use this forum to share your thoughts.

District Administrator (October 2009) 
By Don Parker-Burgard

If you are following the Common Core State Standards Initiative, you may enjoy reading a recent article written in District Administrator.  In Almost There? The Road to Common Standards Reaches a Milestone, Don Parker-Burgard interviews Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director of CCSSO and Dane Linn, Director of the Education Division of the National Governors Association for Best Practices.

For more information on the Common Core State Standards Initiative, visit:

Common Core State Standards Initiative - CCSSO
 

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said on Face the Nation (September 6, 2009),
"We have to raise the bar for everyone. We have to have our high expectations.  We are going to make sure that every student who graduates from high school is
 both college-ready and career-ready and has a chance to fulfill their dreams."

To read the transcript of Secretary Duncan's interview on Face the Nation click on
Face the Nation.

Benchmarking for Success:
Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education 
(December 2008)

"The U.S. cannot afford to rest on its past accomplishments. The global
 knowledge economy is here, and if state leaders want to ensure that their
 citizens can compete in it, they must seize the initiative, looking beyond
 America’s borders and benchmarking their education systems with the best
 in the world. The state mandate to educate all students remains, but the
 world that schools are preparing students for has changed—and will
 continue to change—dramatically."

In order to understand the Common Core State Standards Initiative, educators should read Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education.  This document was co-written by the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Achieve, Inc.

The PowerPoint presentation below is another helpful resource.
What Is The Common Core State Standards Initiative (.ppt) 

The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) convened a state-led process to develop common core state standards in English language arts and mathematics. Forty-eight states and three territories signed onto the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

These documents are the first official public draft of the college and career readiness standards. These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have to be ready to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing, academic college courses and in workforce training programs. Click here to learn more about the criteria and considerations for standards development. The NGA Center and CCSSO are soliciting feedback that is supported by research and evidence. To provide feedback on the draft standards, please click here.

Feedback will be collected until October 21, 2009.

The documents have been informed by input from education and content experts and feedback from participating states. To see a list of standards work group members and expert feedback group members, click here. For commonly asked questions about the initiative, click here.

These documents represent the college and career readiness standards. The NGA Center and CCSSO will now begin the process to develop the K-12 standards that will allow students to achieve the college and career readiness standards. 

National PTA Calls for Common Core Standards
June 25, 2009

"America’s children haven’t been able to compete with students from around the globe for years when it comes to academic achievement. That’s why the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is calling for the creation of a voluntary, internationally benchmarked common core of state standards in English language arts and mathematics for grades K-12."

A new report from the Fordham Foundation gives a grade of “B” to the draft of the proposed “Common Core” standards in ELA and Math.

Fordham’s report, Stars by Which to Navigate: Scanning National and International Standards in 2009, asked subject-matter experts to review the “content, rigor, and clarity of the first public drafts of the ‘Common Core’ standards” as well as the reading, writing and mathematics frameworks of NAEP, TIMSS, and PISA.

Race for Common Core Standards Begins (View Article)
By Lauren Barack
October 8, 2009

"Politics are an issue in the standards debate. States that want a piece of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top program, which will award $4.3 billion in competitive educational grants to states, are being strongly encouraged to adopt the upcoming K-12 standards by June 2010."

ASCD (View Article)
September 15, 2009

Gene Wilhoit, executive director of CCSSO and leader of the Common Core Standards Initiative, spoke with ASCD members about the Initiative's work to develop K-12 reading and math standards. He emphasized that the standards will be internationally benchmarked and backed by evidence that shows student mastery of them leads to preparedness for higher education and the workforce.