Alliance For Excellent Education
Bob Rothman
December 2009
This brief provides a summary of why America’s public schools need not just higher academic standards, but common (“national”) standards. A mere six pages in length, the brief is worth a read if only to remind you why Ohio’s recent decision to fully adopt the Common Core standards in mathematics and English language arts is so significant.
The Time is Now points out that between 2005 and 2007, seven states lowered their standards for eighth-grade reading; nine states also lowered their standards for eighth-grade math proficiency. This trend could not come at a worse time. Changes to the American economy have led to a vanishing of low-skill jobs; students increasingly must possess a college degree in order to acquire prosperity. In fact, the nation’s future depends on the college readiness of our students; to remain globally competitive, America’s workforce must be prepared to work with their minds – not with their backs.
Yet state-by-state improvements to academic standards will be insufficient, as allowing states to set their own proficiency bar leads to variations in academic content, quality, and college readiness among graduates. A 2009 Fordham report found that schools’ ability to make federally mandated Adequate Yearly Progress depended entirely on the state within which they were located. That’s why the Common Core State Standards initiative, led by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, is so critical. Common Core promises to create an unprecedented collaboration between states in defining academic expectations, enable comparisons across states in a meaningful way, and eventually lead to shared curriculum and assessments for use at the classroom level.
Ohio is on board for adopting the Common Core and will benefit greatly from this overhaul. Besides providing Ohio’s students and teachers with a clear idea of what they are expected to know, teach, and improve upon, implementing common standards is a main criterion for winning federal Race to the Top money (for Ohio, a confection worth $200-400 million). If nothing else, common standards may end up being the only of Sec. Duncan’s reforms that Ohio fully embraces and that holds potential to improve education for students across the Buckeye State. Read it here.