**** Updated, June 2, 2010 ****
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The final draft of the new Common Core State Standards created by a panel of members of the National Governors Association and the state superintendents of education was released today, June 2, 2010.
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To read the release announcement, click here.
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To review the final draft of the Common Core State Standards, click here.
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****Original Article March 11, 2010****
The new Common Core State Standards created by a panel of members of the National Governors Association and the state superintendents of education were released yesterday for public comment. The Common Core State Standards were crafted to provide rigorous, uniform benchmarks among the states, replacing individual state standards of varying levels. The Common Core State Standards are a state-led initiative; not a federal initiative.
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Arizona was an early supporter of the development of these new common core standards and touted its commitment to adopt the standards in their application for the Race to the Top grant. The Obama administration officials have stated that future federal education grants will be likely be linked to implementation of the new Common Core State Standards.
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As the standards were released, the Senate heard testimony about declining graduation and educational achievement in the United States, relative to the rest of the world. Charles Butt, president of the business round-table, testified that “[t]he blame for America’s sagging academic achievement does not lie solely with public schools… but also with dysfunctional families and a culture that undervalues education.” Andreas Schleicher of the OECD pointed out that Poland, in “less than a decade, raised the literacy skills of its 15-year-olds by the equivalent of almost a school year. If the U.S. would raise the performance of schools by a similar amount,” he said, “that could translate into a long-term, economic value of over 40 trillion dollars.” (Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says ~ NY Times, 3/9/2010)
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The Common Core State Standards initiative is taking public comment on the new standards. To read the standards click here. To take the survey and leave your comments click here.
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To read more, see the articles below.
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Governors, educators push uniform teaching standards, Arizona Republic, March 11, 2010
Panel Proposes Single Standard for All Schools, New York Times, March 10, 2010
Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says, New York Times, March 9, 2010
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Tags: arizona education, Common core standards, education, education best practices, Race to the Top Arizona
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