Common Core supporters back moratorium on new tests’ high stakes
A coalition of education organizations and unions that support the Common Core State Standards issued an open letter on Thursday backing a moratorium of at least one year on the high stakes associated with new standardized tests being given to students that are aligned with the Core.
The letter was issued by the Learning First Alliance, whose members include the American Association of School Administrators, the American School Counselor Association, the International Society for Technology in Education, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, the National School Boards Association and the National Parent Teacher Association.
The moratorium on consequences of high-stakes tests was first urged by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten in April. Because teachers have not had time to properly absorb and create curriculum around the standards, he said, it’s unfair for students to already be taking high-stakes tests aligned to those standards. High stakes associated with test results include whether students can graduate from high school or move from grade to grade, and how much teachers are paid and whether
Text of Obama speech: We will connect 99 percent of schools to Internet
President Obama visited Mooresville Middle School in North Carolina on Thursday to promote a new five-year initiative aimed at ensuring that 99 percent of public schools in the country have access to the Internet. Here is a White House transcript of … Continue reading →
Dueling visions of the federal role in education
Republicans in Congress have rolled out legislation that would sharply limit the power of the executive branch and shrink the role of the federal government in public education in a rebuke to the Obama administration’s influence over K-12 education.
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