Common Core State Standards Initiative

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) today released the names of the states and territories that have joined the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Pennsylvania and 48 other states and US territories have joined the Initiative.

• According to a press release by The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO):

"By signing on to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, governors and state commissioners of education across the country are committing to joining a state-led process to develop a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12. These standards will be research and evidence-based, internationally benchmarked, aligned with college and work expectations and include rigorous content and skills."

• Purpose of the Initiative:

"The Common Core State Standards Initiative is being jointly led by the NGA Center and CCSSO in partnership with Achieve, Inc., ACT, and the College Board. It builds directly on recent efforts of leading organizations and states that have focused on developing college-and career-ready standards and ensures that these standards can be internationally benchmarked to top-performing countries around the world. The goal is to have a common core of state standards that states can voluntarily adopt. States may choose to include additional standards beyond the common core"

• Committee composition and timing:

"This committee will be composed of nationally and internationally recognized and trusted education experts who are neutral to – and independent of – the process. The college and career ready standards are expected to be completed in July 2009. The grade-by-grade standards work is expected to be completed in December 2009. "

• We will watch this effort and see what this will mean to the patchwork quilt of state tests under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and for DVSD, the PSSA. United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan indicates that he belives that the state initiated standardized tests are not always adequate, and that the Initiative has his support:

Secretary Arne Duncan praised the effort to create common core state standards in math and language arts. “This is a giant step,” he said of the initiative, which includes 46 states and 3 territories and is being led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.