My Testimony on National Standards before US House
My Testimony on National Standards before US House
Sept. 21, 2011 Jay P. Greene’s Blog
As I mentioned yesterday, I testified before the US House Subcommittee on Early Education, Elementary, and Secondary Education. Here is the written testimony I submitted:
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for having me here to testify today. My name is Jay P. Greene and I am the 21st Century Professor of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. I am also a fellow at the George W. Bush Institute located at Southern Methodist University.
I am here today to talk with you about how we can best achieve high standards and improve outcomes in education. There is a large effort underway to change educational standards, curriculum, and assessments by centralizing the process. This effort is based on the belief that we will get more rigorous standards and better student outcomes if standards, curriculum, and assessments are determined, or at least coordinated, at the national level. It began with the use of Race to the Top to push states to adopt the Common Core standards, but will also require national curriculum and assessments to be fully implemented.
I believe this centralized approach is mistaken. The best way to produce high academic standards and better