Common standards proposed for English and math
Published: March 1, 2010
Drafts of the K–12 English-language arts and mathematics standards being developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative will soon be released for public comment.
A project of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the initiative’s organizers plan to consolidate all comments and release a final version of the proposed standards in March for consideration by participating states. Forty-nine states have agreed to do so, including California.
States signing on to the federal Race to the Top competitive grant will probably be required to adopt the final English-language arts and math standards. RTTT guidelines call for participating states to adopt common standards by Aug. 2. States could collaborate with each other to develop and adopt common standards through other efforts, but no viable alternatives currently exist.
Meanwhile, the National Research Council has convened a panel of experts to begin development of K–12 science standards. The council reportedly will work with three other national organizations—the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Achieve, a group formed by governors and business leaders—to draft the standards.
The NSTA, which began work on “excellent” science standards several years ago, recently redirected its focus to support the development of common core standards with the NRC. The collaborative is expected to eventually contribute to the work of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which has always envisioned adding standards in science and other subjects.
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