D.C. and Massachusetts to vote on national school standards
School boards in the District of Columbia and Massachusetts are on the verge of adopting national standards for English and math, adding momentum to a movement that in a few months has swept Maryland and two dozen other states.
The board votes scheduled Wednesday come as a new report finds that the "common core" standards backed by governors and state schools chiefs are more rigorous than what most states have expected from their students.
The report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which advocates raising academic expectations, compared the proposal with the jumble of standards that have been in effect in 50 states and the District. It asserted that the proposed national standards are "clearly superior" to the math standards in 39 states -- including Virginia and Maryland -- and to the English-
State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick (Christopher T. Assaf -- AP)
The report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which advocates raising academic expectations, compared the proposal with the jumble of standards that have been in effect in 50 states and the District. It asserted that the proposed national standards are "clearly superior" to the math standards in 39 states -- including Virginia and Maryland -- and to the English-
Md. math, reading scores up, but unevenly
Test scores are up in Maryland schools, but not by much for those already doing poorly.
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Posted at 12:00 AM ET, 07/20/2010
Rare attack on Harlem Children's Zone
President Obama has requested $210 million to create programs similar to the Harlem Children's Zone throughout the country. That’s a lot of money, but how can anyone oppose prenatal care, parenting classes, fitness and nutrition programs for poor families, as well as the thriving charter schools Geoffrey Canada and his team have created? So it is hard to believe what I am seeing---a short paper from the prestigious Brookings Institution taking a shot at the Harlem Children’s Zone and its premier charter school, the Promise Academy.
State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick (Christopher T. Assaf -- AP)