Both President Obama and his Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, are in favor of national standards. Duncan has even said that he wants to devote $5 billion of his special “Race to the Top” stimulus fund to states committed to the creation of common standards.
Perhaps in response to this push from the Obama administration, two recent conferences brought together policy-makers and state legislators to get a national discussion going about standards.
On April 20th, representatives from 48 states met in Chicago at a conference sponsored by the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. On May 5th, the Fordham Institute hosted a conference (”International Evidence about National Standards”) that examined evidence from abroad about the efficacy of common standards.
NGA, CCSSO Launch Common Standards Drive [Education Week / April 20, 2009]
The Best Defense against National Standards? Hearing about National Standards [Commentary about Fordham conference]
John Merrow’s Commentary on National Standards [San Jose Mercury News / Oct 17, 2007]
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May 14, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Jeanne Gumbleton says:
There is a discussion going on at http://www.tinyurl.com/Op2LearnFB regarding Brown vs. Board of Education’s 55th Anniversary. How far have we really come in providing access and quality in education for every child?