A new set of education benchmarks released this week aims to make sure all American children are learning the same sort of information at the same time. Those standards, called the
Common Core State Standards, are aimed at replacing a hodgepodge of educational goals varying wildly from state to state with a uniform set of expectations for students.
It’s the first time states have joined together to establish what students should know by the time they graduate high school, and local school chiefs support the idea.
“Here is a case when you clearly have the best minds in education in America coming together to create a good set of standards,” said Gayland Cooper, superintendent of Rome City Schools. “It’s all good. I’m very much in favor of it.”
Cooper said Georgia has been working for several years to stiffen standards for its students, but other states may have to step up their requirements to get on board. If they do, he said, students all across America stand to benefit. He also said the standards are really just a guideline, and schools will need rich curriculums and strong teaching to make sure the Common Core State Standards are successful.
Floyd County Superintendent Lynn Plunkett agreed with Cooper, saying she thinks Georgia teachers will be able to adjust more easily than the teachers in states in which there has not been a foundation already in place for standards-based instruction, such as the Georgia Performance Standards.
“The movement toward a national curriculum would have a tremendous impact on education in our country, both positive and negative. I like the idea that proficiency in math, for example, is the
