There is a lot of good in the national common core standards effort. The idea of a national foundation that describes the minimum we expect our children to be taught has a lot of merit and should be embraced. But it should be embraced as a foundation upon which states can build up. I’m proud that Virginia’s English standards already align well with the common core. I think some would say they exceed the national standards already and we need to make sure to keep it that way. The Fordham Foundation study that said VA’s English Standards were already very comparable to the common core didn’t actually review VA’s full English Standards. They didn’t have some critical elements which are currently under development, that if included, should cause our English standards to easily exceed the common core. I believe our English standards, when these additional elements are completed later this year, will easily exceed the common core. But it says a lot that even incomplete standards in English are considered comparable with the common core.
While the Fordham study indicates VA’s math standards currently don’t meet the common core baseline, they ignored a whole set of standards data that was critical to any fair review of VA’s standards. That is too bad, as I think if it had been included, our Math standards would have been rated much higher. My policy goal is to ensure VA’s standards exceed the common core. I think we make a mistake if we treat the common core as a final step in our expectations for student learning and achievement. Instead it should be viewed as a floor. The usefulness of a common core standard for our country depends in great part on the opportunities states are given to demonstrate ways to improve it and exceed it. If the common core is implemented in a way that does not encourage us to keep finding ways to exceed the minimum, it will be a failure. As it stands in Virginia, while we don’t plan to adopt the common core word for word, we do plan to use it to improve our standards. Our goal as a state should be to have standards that exceed the common core baseline. I think we are there right now, and I think we’ll get further ahead in the near future. And my hope is that every state would have the same goal of exceeding the common core.
I’d also make one last point about the common core. Right now it is just a set of words on paper. There are no tests to determine if a state’s students are meeting it. There are no curriculum to go with it. There are no teacher training programs to ensure teacher’s know how to teach to it. All of those things cost money to build. States that claim they are adopting the common core have substantial expenses ahead of them in order to truly implement it. Given tight budgets everywhere, Federal money will be critical if it is to be implemented effectively. In VA, our standards are already there and we have the tests, curriculum and teacher training materials in place and paid for.
Here is the recent Washington Post Story on the Common Core: D.C. and Massachusetts to vote on national school standards.
Another point…
We also have to remember that standards are only a beginning. Good standards exist in states with bad student performance. We have to provide the funding for the teachers and school systems so that teachers have regular professional development and so that administrators have effective management tools and capacity. Standards without proper funding, strong teachers or good management or worthless.
Once a national common standards baseline is in place, the next challenge is a national assessment system for Math and English. There are two key parts to that system. What we test; likely the common core provides much of that answer. And what we consider passing; a more debatable issue as where you set your passing rate impacts school accreditation and school reputation. I believe we have to set that bar high. While I’d like Virginia’s current assessment passing score requirements to be higher, I think such a change has to include better funding for our schools. Schools area already being stretched thin by budget cuts.
I like the idea of a national assessment test for Math and English. Such a testing system could allow us, for the first time really, to see the true performance differences between states and schools. And it could save all states a lot of money if it were implemented properly as states would not have to re-create their own tests. Again, like the common core standards, though, it should not stifle innovation in testing. You can be sure that VA will actively participate in the development of these tests as they can provide VA with new, high quality testing tools at much less the cost.
