Third-grade students at Prospect Valley Elementary in Wheat Ridge (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)
Despite all the recent noise about the Common Core academic standards and assessments aligned to them, a report released Wednesday demonstrates most states are moving forward with both.
The report from the nonpartisan, Denver-based is essentially a summary of the latest developments on the Common Core front as a new school year begins.
For those following these things closely, there is not much new here. For more casual observers, it’s a useful summary of the landscape. It’s also a reminder that most states adopted these standards four years ago – three in some cases – with little public protest or coverage ().
To sum up the report:
— Forty-five states plus the District of Columbia adopted the Common Core State Standards in English and math since 2010. One state, Minnesota, adopted the English standards only. The remaining four – Alaska, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia – did not adopt Common Core but have adopted new standards.
— Two states have since passed legislation to exit Common Core (Indiana and Oklahoma), one is attempting to do so (Louisiana) and four more are reviewing the standards with an eye toward possibly replacing them (Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina).
Colorado was ahead of the curve in adopting new academic standards following passage of 2008 legislation known as CAP4K, or the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids. In 2010, the state adopted Common Core standards in English in math and folded them into the broader Colorado Academic Standards.
this spring to delay the state’s participation in a multi-state testing consortium called PARCC, for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a task force was formed on standards and assessments that will make recommendations to the Legislature. The group – comprised of the usual Colorado assortment of diverse stakeholders – will meet Monday for the third time.
Amy O’Neill, the teacher librarian at Prospect Valley Elementary, helps a student with an assignment in the school computer lab (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)
Many things would need to happen to alter Colorado’s
The outcome of this fall’s elections, for one, could greatly influence what happens moving forward. Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez opposes the Common Core as setting too low of a bar and supports yanking the state out of PARCC, campaign spokesman Allen Fuller said.
State law currently requires Colorado to be part of an assessment consortium, said state Department of Education spokeswoman Janelle Asmus. For Colorado to withdraw that law would need to be repealed. Then, it would take the signatures of the governor, state board of education chair and the education commissioner to sign-off on the withdrawal as their signatures were required to join, she noted.
The State Board of Education to ask the Legislature to withdraw the state from PARCC and design its own test.
Said Anderson, of the Education Commission of the States: “I think elections will play a big part in some of the discussion next year. But in many states, four years in, the standards and curriculum have been revised, teacher development has been changed, the way things have been taught have been changed … Most probably, it would be hard for massive change to happen at this point in the school year.”
One interesting aspect of the report is an appendix that spells out each state’s names for their respective Common Core standards. As controversy has enveloped the standards, with criticism from the far left and right, it’s not surprising some states would seek distance from the Common Core label.
Twenty-five states don’t include any reference to “Common Core” or “Core” (Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, anyone?).
I asked Anderson what he made of states avoiding reference to the Common Core.
“I think the important thing is these standards were created by the states, by governors and chief school officers that have been involved in it,” he said. “States that have changed the name to fit their states are highlighting the involvement they’ve had in the development of it.”
