National PTA Calls for Common Core Standards

10/09/2009

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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."
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Grading the Common Core Standards

10/09/2009

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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.
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Race for Common Core Standards Begins

10/09/2009

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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."
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Common Core Standards - Update

10/09/2009

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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.
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Common Core Standards

10/09/2009

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50 States - 50 Standards

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Are schools in the United States preparing students for life and work in the 21st century?  If schools within a state have a difficult time aligning their local curriculum to the state standards, then how aligned are the fifty states?  Are some students receiving a more rigorous second grade curriculum than their peers in other states?  Does an A+ in Algebra I mean the same in Massachussetts as it does in Mississippi?  Should the United States adopt national standards, or should states continue to develop the standards and objectives for public schools?

According to the Center for American Progress, "With more than 50 different sets of standards, there is no national measure/yardstick/ standard/benchmark for academic achievement at each of the grade levels. NCLB requires that states hold districts and schools accountable for getting all their students to 'proficient' achievement levels, but allows them to adopt their own definitions of 'proficiency.'"

"With the pressure to increase student performance, there has been counter pressure for states to game the system by lowering both standards and proficiency definitions....Only national curriculum standards and national definitions and measures of student performance at proficiency levels can prevent this behavior."

Do you agree with this statement? 

References:
The Case for National Standards, Accountability and Fiscal Equality
Center for American Progress (November 2005)
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10/09/2009

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