K-12 Education Standards Proposed

Special Report - March 18, 2010
The National Governor’s Association (NGA), with the input of various educators and stakeholders, released the first public draft of its Common Core State Standards for K-12 education. The standards were released on March 10 and will be available online for public comment through April 2.

The standard writers struggled to balance defining the knowledge that students in these grades should have attained before entering a college or career pathway with an effort to make the standards clear. Dane Linn, director of the NGA Center’s Education Division, commented on these guiding motives, saying, “These standards build upon the goals articulated in the college- and career-readiness standards released last year and will ensure our students are prepared to compete and succeed in a global economy.”

The designers broke English language standards down into the 5 categories of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language (which includes vocabulary). Although grouped together under the heading of “English” the standards state that these communication proficiencies can and should be honed in almost any discipline at any age. Appendices have example texts illustrating the quality and complexity appropriate to each grade level.

The categories for math standards vary more by grade level. For example, students will complete all education that pertains to the domain (or heading) “Operations and the Problems They Solve” by the end of the fourth grade, whereas students will first encounter “Statistics and Probability” in sixth to eighth grade classrooms.

Almost all of the information in the standards focuses on the actual content proficiency, or the end of the educational process, and leaves means and methods of instruction to the discretion of states and local educators. The introduction specifically addresses the need to hold English Language Learners (ELLs) to the same standards, even if it requires more time for them to attain proficiency.

State participation in the Common Core State Standards Initiative is voluntary, but federal education grants to states have already started to incentivize participation with the Common Core Standards. Some, such as the CATO Institute’s Neal McCluskey, have responded with skepticism regarding the federal government’s further intervention in education. Mr. McCluskey has argued, “It makes no sense, though, to attempt to bribe states into adopting national—and ultimately federal—curriculum standards when we know that all kids have different needs and abilities.” Others see the standards as a move in the right direction that will be instrumental in raising the quality of national education.

The release coincides with the White House’s unveiling of its "Blueprint for Reform" or plan for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act on March 15. As a part of the Obama Administration’s educational goal of creating “college and career-ready students,” the “Blueprint” requires that states raise their existing English language arts and mathematics standards or work together to develop common standards like the NGA’s.

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