By Ledyard King Gannett Washington Bureau
Fifty states 50 different sets of academic standards. Right? Maybe not for much longer.
Dismayed that students are slipping further behind their international peers 46 states have agreed in principle to develop a set of rigorous criteria the Common Core State Standards Initiative designed to prepare high school graduates for college and the workforce. Kids who are taking algebra I for example would be expected to learn the same material whether theyre in Massachusetts or Mississippi.
The four yet to sign up: Alaska Missouri South Carolina and Texas.
This is a giant first step in the right direction U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in an interview Friday with Gannett Washington Bureau. The goal obviously is to raise the bar for everyone and its very important that this not be watered down.
Officials say the stakes are high given that U.S. students are losing their edge in an increasingly global economy.
Out of 30 industrialized countries participating in the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) in 2006 U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 25th in math. American students lag about a full year behind their peers in the countries that perform best in mathematics.
Duncan said it would have been unimaginable two years ago to bring together the states which oppose federalized education standards as a one-size-fits-all model that wont work.
But this time because state school bosses are leading the charge it has a much better chance of success he said.
The No Child Left Behind law that President George W. Bush signed into law in 2002 required states to increase testing and mandated that all kids become proficient in math and reading by 2014 as a condition of federal funding. Critics of the law say its fundamentally flawed because it allows states to define what proficiency is.
Some states set it at a low level some set it a high level and you get this hodgepodge of different interpretations said Gene Wilhoit executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers which represents state education agencies. We think we can solve some of that with this effort.
The council working with the National Governors Association is planning to develop broad standards by July covering curriculum content professional development testing and student support. Specific grade-by-grade expectations will be made public by the end of the year and be ready for implementation in 2010 he said.
Because the standards are voluntary states could opt out but Wilhoit predicts most wont.
South Dakota Education Secretary Thomas Oster said he expects his state to adopt the standards because it will ease the transition for kids who move from one state to another.
You can find a student who is half a grade level ahead or half a grade level behind just based on what that state is doing he said.
Oster also said states will save money. They collectively spend more than $1 billion developing and administering 50 different tests so having a uniform assessment should cut millions in costs he said.
