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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Common Core Standards Help Ensure Better Prepared Students

Bryan Albrecht, a member of the Common Core Validation Committee, writes in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that five years after Wisconsin adopted and began implementing the Common Core, to “turn back on this important education initiative just as it is taking root would be a mistake, putting the state’s students at a disadvantage and creating uncertainty in classrooms.” “The Common Core Standards provide a rigorous academic framework that, when supported by strong curriculum and effective teaching – which we are seeing – will ensure more students graduate high school prepared for the next step, whatever path they choose,” Albrecht writes. Noting early adopter states like Kentucky and Tennessee have experienced big academic improvements, while states that have tried to replace the standards like South Carolina and Oklahoma have run into problems, Albrecht adds, “It is frustrating to see the misleading information perpetuated by individuals and organizations that would like to return to old models of learning…Understanding the facts about Common Core will strengthen the dialogue between policy-makers and educators.”
Read it here: http://goo.gl/PRg8yA

 

What It Means:
As a member of the Common Core Validation Committee and president of the Gateway Technical College, Albrecht emphasizes the importance of raising the academic bar for students to ensure they are prepared for college or a career. Evidence from states like Kentucky and Tennessee, early adopters of the Common Core, indicate the standards are helping to improve student outcomes, while states that have gone the opposite direction and by trying to repeal the standards have run into problems coming up with equally rigorous standards. That’s because, as Mike Petrilli wrote in December, “it’s impossible to draft standards that prepare students for college and career readiness and that look nothing like Common Core.”


About the Collaborative for Student Success

At our core, we believe leaders at all levels have a role to play in ensuring success for K-12 students. From ensuring schools and teachers are equipped with the best materials to spotlighting the innovative and bold ways federal recovery dollars are being used to drive needed changes, the Collaborative for Student Success aims to inform and amplify policies making a difference for students and families.

To recover from the most disruptive event in the history of American public schools, states and districts are leveraging unprecedented resources to make sure classrooms are safe for learning, providing students and teachers with the high-quality instructional materials they deserve, and are rethinking how best to measure learning so supports are targeted where they’re needed most. 

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