The draft "Common Core" standards are appraised

Stars By Which to Navigate? Scanning National and International Education Standards in 2009

The draft “Common Core” standards in math and reading-writing-communications received “B” grades on a new evaluation released today by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

The NAEP frameworks in these subjects also fared moderately well in this appraisal, while TIMSS excelled in math and PISA fared poorly in both areas.

Stars by Which to Navigate? Scanning National and International Education Standards in 2009 examines the “Common Core” drafts released in September as well as other influential barometers and benchmarks of educational performance. The report aims to make sense of these influential national and international models by which schools, districts and states may determine “how good is good enough.” It also aims to provide important feedback to the “Common Core” drafters as they revise their end-of-high-school standards and develop companion standards for lower grades.

“This review shows that the Common Core standards are off to a good start,” said Fordham President Chester E. Finn, Jr., “though there’s room for improvement—and a sound English curriculum will require plenty more than the valuable skills set forth here.”

Fordham invited expert reviewers to appraise the “Common Core” drafts, which outline college and career readiness standards in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and math. These draft standards were released on September 21 by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Fordham’s reviewers also evaluated the reading/writing and math frameworks of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The reviewers awarded these grades:
Common Core Reading/Writing/Speaking & Listening: B
Common Core Math: B
NAEP Reading/Writing: B
NAEP Math: C
TIMSS Math: A
PISA Reading: D
PISA Math: D

“Most of the content that is expected of a 15 year-old in PISA [math] is what younger students should have already mastered,” the report noted.

The math reviews were led by W. Stephen Wilson, mathematics professor at Johns Hopkins University and former senior advisor for mathematics at the U.S. Department of Education. The English language arts reviews were led by Sheila Byrd Carmichael, an education policy consultant and founding director of the American Diploma Project. Their work was reviewed by other subject-area experts.

Today’s release is an interim evaluation, to be followed next year by continuing reviews of “Common Core” standards as well as other influential education standards and frameworks (including updates on some in this report.) Fresh evaluations of current state academic standards will follow.

Complete report:
http://edexcellence.net/doc/20091008_NationalStandards.pdf

You have read this article with the title The draft "Common Core" standards are appraised. You can bookmark this page URL http://universosportinguista.blogspot.com/2009/10/the-draft-core-standards-are-appraised.html. Thanks!