Sound off on Common Academic Standards

For months, government leaders have been working with various organizations to come up with a set of core skills and knowledge that students should learn at each grade level, and now you can tell them what you think of their ideas.

State governors and school officers released on Wednesday the first public draft of the standards for kindergarten through high school students. Educators, policy makers and anyone else who wants to comment on them can do so until April 2 on the Common Core State Standards Initiative Web site.

The initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to establish high education benchmarks that are consistent throughout the United States. Over the past number of years, 15 states lowered proficiency standards in reading or math for some grades, and others have set high standards.

Both the K-12 and the college and career standards, which were open for public comment in the fall, must prepare students to succeed in the workforce. The standards place a high premium on evidence-based research and rigorous content.

Every state except Alaska and Texas has signed up, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. But that doesn't mean they will adopt the final standards; they have just agreed to support their development.

As an incentive to bring everyone on board, Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced in June that he would pitch in $350 million from the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund for states that agreed to support the common standards.

Throughout the process of developing the initial standards, the associations and an advisory group considered input from national organizations that represent teachers, postsecondary education, civil rights, English language learners and students with disabilities.

“The feedback and comments states and our additional stakeholders have provided us are solidifying these standards into the better standards our students need,” stated Gene Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. “We will continue to work diligently and tirelessly to ensure these standards are where they need to be, and today we are asking the public to help us do just that.”