Standards
Read more about the state policies related to the content and skills students should know and be able to do across subjects and grade levels
What’s the Purpose of Standards in Education? An Explainer
What are standards? Why are they important? What's the Common Core? Do standards improve student achievement? Our explainer has the answers.
- Standards Opinion Arne Duncan's Take on School Reform: Read It!Marc Tucker reflects on what we can learn about systems reform from the former Secretary's new book.Standards Do States Weaken Their Standards By 'Un-Adopting' the Common Core? These Reviewers Think So.The English/language arts and math standards in most states that "un-adopted" or tweaked the Common Core State Standards are, in the end, "substantially weaker," according to the latest review of state standards from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.Standards Opinion The Testing TragedyMarc Tucker discusses the importance of getting testing right now that the number of PARCC and Smarter Balanced states have declined significantly.Standards Report Roundup Civics EducationMost states with civics requirements focus on current events, but not real community engagement, says a report by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. The report draws on prior analyses of state standards and frameworks.Standards Arizona's Draft Science Standards Minimize Evolution. Many Blame the State SuperintendentThe draft portrays evolution as less than settled fact and introduces other errors. Many believe Diane Douglas, the state superintendent, directed the changes.Standards Standards for Teaching American Sign Language ReleasedLong-awaited standards for teaching sign language in grades kindergarten through 12 have been released by Gallaudet University in an effort to ensure deaf and hard-of-hearing students are using sign language for critical thinking and problem solving.Standards Measuring New Science Standards Is Hard. These Projects Aim to Change ThatThe AAAS launches a new project to develop assessment scenarios that measure the NGSS' energy standards.Standards Could Requiring Students to Take the Citizenship Test Do More Harm than Good?The National Council for the Social Studies is pushing back on the policy, arguing it's likely to reduce classroom civics instruction to surface-level knowledge.Standards Louisiana's New Approach to Reading TestsThe proposal draws on arguments that reading tests that focus on applying skills to generic passages disadvantage students who don't have the background knowledge to fully grasp them.Standards Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About the Next Generation Science Standards?Quiz Yourself: How are states adopting the Next Generation Science Standards?Standards News in Brief Years After Standards Adoption, Detroit Discovers Curricula Are MisalignedIn one of the lowest-performing districts in the nation, students have been using outdated textbooks for nearly a decade.Standards Why Aren't More States Taking On Economics and Personal Finance Education?Momentum for teaching finance in schools has stalled recently, according to a new report from the Council for Economic Education. The Council's president has some ideas on how to change that.Standards Here's One Way to Dispel Misconceptions About the Common CoreIt's possible to use brief texts to correct education policy misconceptions, the study finds.Standards PARCC Common-Core Test Gets Federal ApprovalThe new decision by the U.S. Department of Education conveys unconditional approval of the PARCC test as a measurement of Maryland's standards. But that finding doesn't yet apply to its use in other states.Standards D.C. Will Invalidate 2 Years of Science-Test ScoresThe cancellation will cause headaches for the 48,000-student district, which will have to seek a federal waiver because of the snafus.