Common Core Standards Announced

On Wednesday, the final set of common academic standards was released by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to a crowd of supporters at Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, GA. The United States is one of the very few industrialized countries with no common national educational standards for public schools. If adopted, common national standards will make it possible to compare student learning in classrooms across the United States, and help us see how U.S. students are doing relative to their international peers. In a world were our students are competing for jobs with students from all over the world, it is vital that we track how competitive our education system is and constantly strive toward world-class.

These standards were created in a state-led effort in collaboration with 48 states and two U.S. territories. At the conference, Delaware Governor Jack Markell, co-chair of the effort, stated, “The Common Core Standards is an initiative driven locally — not by Washington — where we’ve been able to talk with folks all over the country about what’s working best and how we can be sure that our efforts are aligned to really deliver on what’s most important — a better future for our kids and greater hope for their parents.”

Delaware has committed to making at least 85% of its state standards match these Common Core standards by 2013, saving money and making it easier to compare our progress with that of other states.