Will You Join the Supports-Based Education Movement?
By Joseph Bishop, Director of the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign and Executive Director of Opportunity Action
Last week, New York education officials released scores from the first Common Core-aligned standardized state tests. Student scores showed a dramatic drop in performance from previous years. Statewide, just 31.1 percent of students tested proficient in English Language Arts, and 31 percent tested proficient in math.We can’t be surprised by the results, as New York leaders and many state decision-makers across the country have failed to recognize that new standards alone won’t drive students to succeed. Standards must be matched with common core supports for students, parents, teachers and principals. The challenge the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign is trying to address with organizations like the Alliance for Quality Education and A+New York is about more than closing the achievement gap on state tests. We’re working to rectify the ever-present opportunity gap that underlies the achievement gap and perpetuates disparities between students who attend school in well-resourced communities and those who do not.
Following the release of A Nation at Risk 30 years ago, district, state and federal policies have focused primarily on efforts to raise standards, improve assessments, and evaluate teachers. While each of these issues warrants attention in the landscape of education policy, they are not effective drivers for significantly changing the learning conditions for students across the