Apr 18 Thousands of students opt out of Common Core tests in protest By Christina A. Cassidy, Associated Press Thousands of students are opting out of new standardized tests aligned to the Common Core standards, defying the latest attempt by states to improve academic performance. Continue reading
Apr 08 Watch 7:14 Schools, students bracing themselves for new, tougher Common Core tests By PBS NewsHour Students in 29 states are taking the Common Core tests for the first time this spring. A few years ago, one school in Washington, D.C., changed how it prepares for standardized tests, adopting home visits, pep rallies and new curricula… Continue watching
Mar 11 Watch 8:17 Why some students are refusing to take the Common Core test By PBS NewsHour Rebellion is brewing against the Common Core educational standards. Testing for the new standards began in March, and some students have refused to take part. Special correspondent for education John Merrow reports from New Jersey, where he talks to Common… Continue watching
Feb 26 Common Core’s unintended consequence? More teachers write their own curricula By Jonathan Sapers, The Hechinger Report Last year Melody Arabo had the hardest year of her 13-year teaching career. The program she and her colleagues had been given to teach third-grade math at Keith Elementary just outside of Detroit was supposed to match the new Common… Continue reading
Feb 25 White House threatens veto of GOP bill to fix No Child Left Behind By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press WASHINGTON — No Child Left Behind is a widely criticized law, but a GOP bill intended to fix it isn't winning popularity contests among House Democrats. Continue reading
Feb 16 New standardized tests throw technology curve at some students By Kimberly Hefling, Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press Standardized tests have multimedia components, written essays and multi-step calculations needed to solve math problems that go beyond just using rote memory. Students in some states will take adaptive versions in which questions get harder or easier depending on their… Continue reading
Jan 06 Watch 6:51 Is the new GED test an educational improvement or setback? By PBS NewsHour An overhaul of the GED to meet Common Core standards has made the high school equivalency test more rigorous and more expensive. As a result, fewer people are taking and passing it. Gwen Ifill gets debate from Randy Trask of… Continue watching
Jan 03 Watch Why a GOP-controlled Congress may abandon No Child Left Behind law By PBS NewsHour When Congress returns to work next week, Republicans will have substantial majorities in the House and the Senate. Republican leaders have promised they will initiate new legislation, and one of their first efforts may be to roll back parts of… Continue watching
Dec 25 Watch 7:39 What will sink and what will survive as states test Common Core? By PBS NewsHour In 2008, a set of academic standards for U.S. public schools called the Common Core was created for states to voluntarily implement. Intended to raise the bar for American students and teachers, many states that originally signed on are now… Continue watching
Aug 30 How is Common Core playing out in all 50 states and DC? By Associated Press The Common Core standards are math and English benchmarks describing what students should know after completing each grade. They were developed by states to allow comparison of students’ performance. More than 40 states have adopted them. Here is a state-by-state… Continue reading