AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH

Governors and the Common Core

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Prepared for the American Enterprise Institute Conference, Common Core Meets the Reform Agenda March 25, 2013 The collected papers for this conference can be found at http://www.aei.org/events/2013/03/25/common-core-meets-the-reform-agenda/.

Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. Introduction Raising student achievement has never been so important to the United States. For the first time in this countrys history, our children may face a lower standard of living than their parents. At the same time, many companies cant find enough qualified workers to fill current job openings. The Common Core State Standards is one of the most significant accomplishments in the education reform agenda, and has the potential to have more impact on improving student achievement than any other initiative over the past twenty years. If these standards are implemented with fidelity, American students will be prepared for whichever pathcollege and/or careerthey choose, and, the United States will return to being an internationally competitive nation. Two national organizations played a key role in the development of the Common Core standards. The National Governors Association (NGA), a membership organization representing governors in the fifty states, commonwealths and U.S. territories, and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the national organization representing the state superintendents of schools. These groups decided to partner with Achieve, Inc., a non-profit supporting standardsbased education reform, to create a task force that produced Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education.1 This report laid out a set of recommendations articulating what it would take for the U.S. education system to be globally competitive. The National Governors Association is an organization in which governors from both partiesRepublican and Democratwork together on a range of policy issues: education, health, homeland security, workforce development, energy, and more. Each partys caucus determines a leader to join a chairman, which rotates parties on an annual basis. In addition, there is also a committee structure (e.g., education, children and workforce) that informs the

Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. organizations policy positions at the federal level. Unlike many organizations in Washington, DC, governors make the decisions about where the organization will and will not focus its attention. The Common Core Standards were no exception. In my 16 years as director of NGAs education division, I have spearheaded many national initiatives for the organization; few people have had the opportunity to influence state policy the way that I have over this time. Governors are uniquely political and practical animals, which makes them a delight to work with and for on education issues. In my work on CCSS, I had an opportunity to level the playing field and ensure that all students have the opportunity to work toward meeting rigorous standards, regardless of their zip code In 2009, I was charged with figuring out how to address education as part of NGAs Innovation America initiative.2 Innovation America largely focused on how governors could use innovation as a platform for rebuilding their state economies. There was one problem. The agenda did not pay any attention to the role of K-12 education. The governors decided to launch a national task force chaired by former Governor Janet Napolitano and former Intel CEO Craig Barrett to determine what it would take for the U.S. education system to be internationally competitive. NGA decided to partner with CCSSO and Achieve, Inc. on the initiative, given the significant role these organizations play in the education reform movement.

The Governors Role in CCSS Who would have thought the United States would be in a position today where 46 states have agreed to implement a set of common standards in English language arts and mathematics? After all, we are a federalist-loving nation for the most part. The federal government drives a great deal of policy in areas from taxes to transportation. However, the U.S. Constitution is

Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. virtually silent on education. Instead, educating all students is defined as a state responsibility and delineated in each states constitution. It is important to understand that governors and chief state school offers started and determined the process for developing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Theres an ongoing myth that the federal government and the White House, in particular, asked the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to lead a process to create national standards. Others have suggested the federal stimulus package contained incentives for the two organizations to create the standards. As one of the leaders of the effort to develop common standards that were internationally benchmarked, these statements are not and have never been true. I believe the standards will prevail over time for several reasons. First, governors and state superintendents of schools drove the effort to create them. Keeping the federal government at bay was a key reason why so many states have not abandoned ship. Secondly, my experience with governors has taught me there is nothing more that will drive action than an economic decline. The current state of the economythe high unemployment rate, especially among high school and college graduatesand our slipping international competitiveness are compelling state leaders to look for ways they can improve their education system. One key indicator is our performance on international assessments students from former Eastern Bloc countries like Poland are now outpacing U.S. students. In order to ensure that the U.S. remains an economic superpower, we need to create an education system that prepares our students with the knowledge and skills so they can compete for the jobs that will ensure they have a better quality of life than their parents. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a first step toward achieving that goal.

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The History of Common Standards Governors have been at the forefront of the standards debate ever since the first education summit in 1989. Since that time, the debate over whether to have federal or national education standards has continued. The most important argument against federal intrusion has been that state constitutions, not the U.S. Constitution, define education as a state responsibility. In addition, the federal government only contributes 8.3 percent of the cost of educating students.3 This means, on average, that states and localities foot the bill for 92 percent of the cost of educating their students. States have historically decided not to work together to develop standards for several reasons. Some state leaders believed that no state is the same and, as a result, all states should have the freedom to define the essential knowledge and skills their students should learn. On the other hand, some states feared that adopting a common set of academic standards would be the first step to federal overreach in other areas such as eligibility requirements for federal funds. Without federal standards, there is wide variation in the depth, breadth, and quality of state standards. Even states who have declared they have internationally benchmarked their standards have found it difficult to defend their performance on the National Assessment of Education Program (NAEP), a highly regarded assessment and the closest thing the U.S. has to a national test. In 2009, former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano became chair of NGA. She decided to focus on the role of innovation (e.g., commercialization of research in colleges and universities as a tool for increasing jobs) in order to strengthen the United States competitive position in the global economy. The goal of the initiative was to give governors the tools they

Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. needed to improve math and science education and ensure that higher education was better aligned to state and regional economies. The initiative did not focus on what it would take for the countrys education system to prepare students so they would be internationally competitive, even though the performance of U.S. 15 year-olds on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an assessment used by countries that represent two-thirds of the world economy, indicates that our students perform near the bottom of the pile (25th) among participating countries.4 Early in the initiative, several governors asked Governor Napolitano to create a national advisory group to focus its attention on what it would take to create a system that was internationally benchmarked to top-performing countries. The governors decided that NGA, CCSSO, and Achieve would join together in this effort. The advisory group was co-chaired by former governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona, former governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia and Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel. Other members of the group included former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, several state commissioners of education, and international representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. The group came together to write Benchmarking for Success.5 The report laid out five key recommendations for governors on how to build an education systemK-12 and higher educationthat could be internationally benchmarked. Action 1: Upgrade state standards by adopting a common core of internationally benchmarked standards in math and language arts for grades K-12 to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to be globally competitive. Action2: Leverage states collective influence to ensure that textbooks, digital media, curricula, and assessments are aligned to internationally benchmarked standards and draw on lessons from high performing nations and states.
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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. Action 3: Revise state policies for recruiting, preparing, developing, and supporting teachers and school leaders to reflect the human capital practices of top-performing nations and states around the world. Action 4: Hold schools and systems accountable through monitoring, interventions, and support to ensure consistently high performance, drawing upon international best practices. Action 5: Measure state-level education performance globally by examining student achievement and attainment in an international context to ensure that, over time, students are receiving the education they need to compete in the 21st century economy.

Taking the Plunge: The Decision to Create the Common Core State Standards The task force thought it was important to avoid issuing another national report that didnt lead to any action, and began the standards creation process. The group concluded the other recommendations (e.g., revising policies for recruiting, preparing, developing and supporting teachers and school leaders) were dependent on the first recommendationupgrading state standards by adopting a common core of internationally benchmarked standards in math and English language arts for K-12 education. The advisory group decided to focus on the two subjects that they believed were critical to success in school math and English language arts. This effort soon became known as the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). An advisory group representing several national organizations-- Achieve, Inc., ACT, the College Board, the National Association of State Boards of Education and the State Higher Education Executive Officershelped shape the initiative and provided guidance throughout the process. The governors were regularly informed during NGA meetings about the standards development process. But, the most significant voice among the governors was Sonny Perdue, former governor of the State of Georgia and lead governor for NGAs involvement in the standards initiative. Governor Perdue championed the standards effort for economic reasons.
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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. When he entered office, students in Georgia were performing near the bottom of the barrel among the southeastern states on the ACT. He repeatedly told me how tired he was that Georgias students were being unfairly compared to students in other southeastern states and in the rest of the country. On more than one occasion, he told me that since each state has positioned the goal line at a different place, it is much easier to score a touchdown in some states than others. In other words, the rigor of each states standards, the assessment, and the benchmark for demonstrating mastery were not only different, but also incredibly unfair to students. I was impressed with the significant amount of time Governor Perdue spent learning about the standards and working to recruit his colleaguesother governors--to adopt the Common Core. From his perspective, common standards were a way to both get more students ready for college and work and, as a result, improve the states economy by being able to attract and retain businesses that needed highly skilled employees and also paid a salary on which an individual could support a family. Having more students leave high school better prepared for college meant that companies would not only locate in Georgia for the tax breaks, but they would also be attracted to the state because of the pool of potential employees who could meet the employers needs. As noted earlier, the initiative was completely state-led from beginning to end. While administration officials were regularly updated about the effort to develop common standards, they played no role in developing, reviewing, or approving the standards. Yet, administration officials regularly voiced their support for the effort publicly. This led state leadersgovernors and chief state school officersand the public to conclude they were claiming the initiative as their own. It didnt help matters when the administration compelled states to adopt college and

Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. career readiness standards through the Race to the Top competition. Although the official language in the Race to the Top Request for Proposals (RFP) was college and career readiness standards, many thought federal officials really wanted states to adopt CCSS. At times, the growing number of conditions put on the availability of stimulus dollars, Race to the Top, and other funds put the eventual adoption of the standards at risk. Clearly, it fed the argument being made by Governor Perry of Texas, whose state never considered adoption of the standards. The governor did not want to Commit Texas taxpayers to unfunded federal obligations or to the adoption of unproven, cost-prohibitive national standards and tests.6 To be honest, NGA and CCSSO made several requests to the U.S. Department of Education to 1) Stop referring to CCSS and leaving many groups, especially opponents of the standards, with the impression the federal government was either creating the standards or asking NGA and CCSSO to lead the development of the standards on their behalf, and 2) not set preconditions for federal funds on whether or not states adopted CCSS. Even when the U.S. Department of Education made the adoption of college and career ready standards the requirement versus the adoption of CCSS, it was too late to change the minds of those individuals and groups who firmly believed the effort was a federal effort. Beyond Texas, some western states including Nebraska (once a leader of the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortia, one of two assessment consortia being funded by the U.S. Department of Education), and Alaska, both of whom never adopted the standards, raised concerns about the federal governments involvement. These states believed if they adopted the standards, this would lead to other attempts by the federal government to preempt states rights. Once the standards were completed, no one was more surprised than Gene Wilhoit, former executive director of CCSSO, and I were by the number of states that adopted them. For

Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. example, we were surprised that some of the relatively conservative states saw the standards for what they aremuch more rigorous than their own standards. State leaders acknowledged that student performance on their state assessments was not measuring whether their students were prepared to be college and career ready, let alone compete on an international stage. In my opinion, one reason for the swift standards adoption was that NGA and CCSSO worked tirelessly to engage governors and chiefs throughout the process so that they would champion the standards once they were released.

Getting It Done: Writing of the Standards The English language arts (ELA) and math standards were written by a team of national experts. The ELA standards were led by David Coleman, former President of Student Achievement Partners (SAP) and current president of the College Board. The math standards were led by Jason Zimba, a former mathematics and physics professor at Bennington College and founding partner at Student Achievement Partners. When critics argue that the standards were not based on empirical evidence, I respond by saying that our goal was to use the best available evidence. Governors did not want to waste another 20 years debating whether we have all the evidence to determine whether a particular standard should be included in the Common Core. Thus, they marshaled the best available evidence from researchers, high performing states, and international standards. There was also a significant effort to ensure the process was transparent and inclusive. For example, the writing teams worked closely with six statesCalifornia, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Minnesotathroughout the development of the standards. Several of these states spent significant time and resources to ensure their own standards were on par

Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. with those from high performing countries. Researchers learned from Colorado, which was wrapping up a two-year effort to develop new standards that were internationally benchmarked, as well as from Massachusetts and Minnesota, which both perform very well on international assessments. Florida was interested in learning from the other states work on standards, as well as in collaborating on assessments. Finally, NGA was interested in California because of its history in the development of the standards, and also because it was a critical state that would determine whether the entire initiative was adopted. NGA and CCSSO regularly held conference calls with each of the six states to collect feedback on the multiple drafts of the standards. Each state superintendent of schools put together a team of experts (e.g., English language arts and mathematics specialists; curriculum and instruction experts, and others) from their state education agency (SEA) to provide candid feedback and, most importantly, evidence to suggest why some standards should be included and others deleted. The teams also spent a considerable amount of time on the sequence of the math standards and deciding which skill(s) should be taught in particular grades.

Engagement of National Organizations The standards were developed with extraordinary input from education organizations. NGA and CCSSO, along with members of the writing teams, met with representatives from the Council of Great City Schools, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, International Reading Association from K-12 and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Council on Education, among others from higher education. More importantly, we spent a considerable amount of time enlisting feedback from content experts in the higher education field, who helped

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. determine whether the standards, especially those in high school, would increase the number of students who would be successful in college coursework and would not need to enroll in remedial classes. The feedback from national organizations resulted in important changes to the draft standards. The American Federation of Teachers input probably had the most significant impact on both the math and English language arts standards. One Monday morning, representatives from NGA, CCSSO and the lead writers met with math teachers who had spent an entire weekend reviewing the math standards, with a focus on which standards were missing and, equally important, where they thought the progressionsthe timing of the skills taught (e.g., third grade vs. fourth grade)did not match their classroom experienced. When we entered the room, we noticed the entire walk was covered with strips of paper. The teachers had literally cut up all the standards and reordered them where they thought they made sense. They also included new standards they believed were missing, in addition to evidence to support their choices. The teachers helped to achieve a better balance among the many issues in English language arts that continue to be debated today, including the types of texts that we suggested students read. The AFT teachers input resulted in changes made to both the math and ELA standards. The public also had an opportunity to submit comments on the draft standards on the Common Cores website. Over 10,000 comments were submitted by educators, parents and concerned citizens, and each was reviewed by the team. Many individuals agreed with the need to create a set of common standards across the states and, in general, liked what they saw in the draft documents. On the other hand, some teachers thought there were too many standards. Others wanted to see standards in other subject areas such as history and science. Several

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. teachers wanted to make sure students and teachers would have the supports they needed to ensure the standards were implemented well in classrooms.

Adopting the Common Core in the States As the standards were being finalized, NGA and CCSSO knew it was going to be critical to enlist champions from the gubernatorial ranks. Fortunately, there were a couple of individuals who worked non-stop to convince their colleagues that governors played an instrumental role in this process. Former Governor Don Carcieri of Rhode Island, a former high school math teacher, made several presentations around the country in support of the standards. He also made an effort to reach out to individual governors and encourage them to play an active role in supporting the standards. His knowledge about the standards development process and passion for education led him to spend a great deal of time on the issues at the state and national levels. Some governors used the newly completed standards to push for other significant policy changes in their states. For example, former Governor Jennifer Granholm made the case that the Common Core was an opportunity for the state of Michigan to legislate minimum high school graduation requirements. While several districts in the state had their own, there were no statewide requirements. It was clear that Michigan students would not be able to meet the new standards if they werent required to take some of the rigorous courses aligned to the standards (e.g., Algebra 2). Under the governors leadership, Michigan now has some of the highest graduation requirements in the country. There are also signs that some states, such as Virginia, may adopt the standards in the future. Although the state recently completed the aligning its English language arts and math standards, many superintendents and other key stakeholders see the Common Core as both a

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. vehicle for leveling the playing field among disadvantaged populations and more affluent school districts, while others see the standards as key to improving the states economy.

Measuring Performance Against the Standards: Common Assessments The next step after states adopted the Common Core was to create common assessments to measure performance on the newly completed standards. Secretary Duncan set aside $350 million in federal stimulus funds to support the development of the assessments. While many governors, both Republicans and Democrats, were encouraged, there were several who raised concerns about federal intrusion in the state-led process. Governors were very interested in the groups who responded to the Secretarys request for proposals (RFP) to create the assessments. When initially released, the RFP generated interest from approximately six groups including Achieve, National Center on Education and the Economy and several groups formed by states coming together (e.g., one led by the State of Oregon that eventually became known as Smarter Balanced). NGA and CCSSO decided to convene the groups in order to reduce the number of interested organizations to no more than two (several had already discussed how they might work together.) At their winter meeting, the governors asked me join a governors-only session to discuss the status of the work on common assessments. There I learned that the governors had two priorities when it came to common assessments. First, they wanted to make sure that the assessments allowed for fairer comparisons between states. Secondly, they wanted to create tests that moved beyond the color in the bubbles and measured both students knowledge of the content and their ability to apply information in different contexts. There were several points of view on the ideal number of

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. consortia. For example, former governor of Colorado Bill Ritter thought it was important for the governors to encourage experimentation with tests that required students to apply their knowledge in a real world setting; the number of assessment consortia didnt bother him at all. On the other hand, former governor of Georgia Roy Barnes thought six consortia would complicate any attempt to address his number one concerncomparability. At the end of the conversation, most governors including former Governor Carcieri of Rhode Island, former Governor Granholm of Michigan, and Governor Markell of Delaware supported Governor Barness proposal to support no more than two consortia. NGA and CCSSO had to do very little work to encourage the groups to consolidate their efforts to develop common assessments. The groups leadership worked independently to figure out how to build a proposal that addressed each groups interests (e.g., adaptive technology assessments), while remaining focused on developing tests that measure key skills (such as providing supporting evidence for the claims made in their writing versus simply writing a wellconstructed paragraph.) State superintendents and their assessment directors are leading the common assessment work. Higher education is also playing a role in both consortia as some of the decisions (e.g., whether the assessments would be used for college placement and cut scores) have a direct impact on them. Gubernatorial involvement in the technical work has decreased, as it should. With the first administration of the assessments taking place in 2014, it is critical for governors to continue talking about the importance of the standards in their states and across the country. Parents and students need to both understand the standards and be prepared for the likely dip in proficiency levels. At the same time, governors need to help parents and others

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. understand that the standards will help ensure their children are able to compete for the highwage, high-skilled jobs that are currently going to students in other countries. Simply talking about the importance of higher standards will not help students meet them. Its equally important for governors to focus on building supports for both students and teachers. For example, states will need to consider ways in which they can provide academic supports (e.g., before- and after school programs; extended learning time) to students who will need more help in order to meet the standards.

Challenges Ahead Common Core implementation presents several challenges for states. It is important that states begin to consider the ways in which they individually and/or collectively can begin to address them.

Tightening the Budget Belt State budgets have not spared K-12 education over the last couple of years. This year is no exception. Some groups, including the Pioneer Institute, have indicated that Common Core implementation will cost states a significant amount of money.7 As states begin to implement the common assessments, they will need to look beyond the stimulus funds that are currently supporting the assessment consortias work. Many states, in partnership with the two assessment consortia, are developing a strategy for sustaining the assessment work. States are also examining how to use federal funds (e.g., Title XI) to sustain this effort. Beyond assessments, states will need to consider ways in which they will provide more support for disadvantaged students to meet the standards.

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. It may be true that states and districts need additional funding. But, we should not make the case for new dollars until states and districts examine how they are using existing funds. For instance, states can reconsider how they are allocating Title I funds to support their lowest performing schools by ensuring that they are funding research-backed initiatives. The Alabama Reads Initiative is a good example where the state has invested in a research-based program over the past 10 years to improve reading proficiency. Additionally, federal funds such as the School Improvement Grants (SIG) and Race to the Top (for a limited number of states) can provide a significant infusion of resources to support implementation efforts. Governors can use these federal funds, in coordination with existing state dollars, to support implementation efforts, provided they are not using federal funds to replace supports traditionally provided with state funds. States should also leverage technology to collaborate across state lines and create cost savings and improve their services. In 2009, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle engaged in a nation-leading effort to share services and become more efficient through cooperation. Minnesota and Wisconsin will work together on more than 80 projects to save money and improve government operations. At that time, Governor Pawlenty indicated These challenging times provide us an opportunity to make state government more accountable and efficient. Working together with our neighbors in Wisconsin will advance these goals.8

The initiatives fell into one of five broad categories: 1. Joint Procurement & Best Practices Collaboration to save on purchased goods or services, learning and improving from practices in other states. 2. Cross Border Collaboration Opportunities to improve by partnership along or across the border.
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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. 3. IT Systems Sharing, developing, or leveraging IT resources to improve government. 4. Reciprocity Making government work better by making borders permeable for customers. 5. Shared Resources Sharing resources to improve their utilization or unit cost. While this initiative was broader than education, it is instructive about the possibilities for states to leverage limited education funds to support this type of collective work. One area ripe for cross-state collaboration is in purchasing instructional materials (textbooks as well as digital materials). Its no secret that California, Florida and Texas drive this market. Consortia of states could work together to not only create greater cost efficiencies, but also to drive publishers to respond to consumers needs and, in this case, provide evidence their instructional materials are aligned to Common Core.

State Education Agencies Limited Capacity State agencies have been directly impacted by the recent budget cuts. There are fewer staff in the agencies and, in many cases, the agency staff positions are supported with federal funds. Ultimately, this means that staff spends a great deal of time monitoring compliance against the federal regulations (e.g., Individuals with Disabilities Act).9 State agencies have also lost talent to districts, where staff members can focus on supporting teachers and principals at the local level, in addition to enjoying higher salaries. Several states are using Regional Service Agencies (or a similar structure) in order to support Common Core implementation. Each RESA could develop expertise in an area (e.g., developing an on-line digital curriculum in partnership with teachers across the state) that teachers and principals could access. Higher education can also play a crucial role. For instance,

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. there are some colleges and universities supported by state or federal funds that could play a direct role in helping educators and state agencies to implement Common Core.

Resisting the Urge to Revise Creating and implementing the initial set of standards will provide experts the opportunity to conduct research that will inform the next iteration of the standards. It will be important for NGA and CCSSO, in partnership with organizations such as Achieve, Inc., The Hunt Institute, The Alliance for Excellent Education and others to work with states to collect a range of data (not just test scores) to monitor implementation of the standards and assessments to inform future work. It will be equally important for these organizations to work with states to frame the research agenda that, in part, can help inform future iterations of the standards. Based on other countries experiences and the data needed to assess implementation, I do not think the standards should be revised until 2017 if not later. Some individuals even suggest that NGA and CCSSO should consider waiting ten years to revise the standards. Lets not claim mission accomplished before providing adequate time for implementation.

Communicating the Importance of Standards and Assessments No one should assume the general public knows much about the Common Core standards. As a matter of fact, most individuals dont know anything about their current state standards. The reality is that most parents think their child is doing just fine in school, while they think everyone elses children wont be prepared for college or a career. If the draft test items from the work of the assessment consortiaPARCC or SMARTER Balancedare any indication, some may be surprised to find their children arent as prepared as they thought.

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. Governors should use this opportunity to educate the public about the standardswhy and how they were developedand why they are important to students college and career readiness. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Governor Jeb Bush have used the bully pulpit to talk regularly about the importance of the Common Core and the opportunity it presents to help students demonstrate their abilities beyond repeating facts, especially when it comes to securing high-quality jobs. Many national organizations have developed communications materials for state and district use largely aimed at helping individuals (e.g., educators, parents and community leaders) understand the standards. Beyond educating people, there needs to be a more sophisticated campaign to educate and help them understand what they can do to help make sure their child, grandchild, niece or nephew is prepared to meet the standards and ultimately expectations in college or the workplace. The business community can help with this as well. For example, Intel is planning to train all their employees on the standardswhy the standards were created; what is included in the standards; how students demonstrate performance against on the common assessments; why the standards are important; and what they can do to make sure their state and school district is preparing students to meet the standards. Its also important for governors to share important data points, such as how U.S. students perform on international assessments and how this competition may affect their ability to compete for well-paying jobs. Beyond the public, governors need to help state legislators understand why the standards and assessments are important to the states education and economic agenda.

Building Political Will to Stay the Course

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. States need to have well thought out implementation plans that involve state leaders (e.g., governors, state superintendents, and state board of education members), business leaders, educators, parents and community leaders. Weve already seen some changes in the gubernatorial ranks (e.g., North Carolina) and legislative elections. Next year will present an even greater challenge as there will be several new governors taking office, none of whom made the initial commitment to adopt the Common Core. It will be important to develop a strategy that doesnt make a states ability to sustain the commitment dependent on which political leader currently holds office. Current and future governors have to remain steadfast in their commitment to implement the standards even when parents in more affluent communities begin to push back. Governors should also consider how to use state funds to leverage social services dollars to before-school and after-school programs to support student success in the classroom.

Teacher Preparation First and foremost, teacher and leadership preparation programs are critical to ensuring that future teachers are prepared to teach the standards. This starts by setting higher admission standards for acceptance into teacher preparation programs. Governors may want to convene college and university presidents together with the goal of increasing entrance into preparation programs and, at the same time, work with agencies that control teacher and principal licensure and certification to increase the rigor of these programs. If this doesnt work, then I suggest the governor move towards changing licensure and certification requirements through the state board of education or legislature.

Teacher Evaluation

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. Teacher evaluation is getting a lot of attention in the states. Many governors are using their 2013 State of the State address to create or significantly revamp their teacher evaluation systems. That said, some states will be transitioning from a set of very low standards to the Common Core. It is important for states to think about how to make this transition successfully and, at the same time, set high expectations for teachers.

Professional Development Professional development (PD) always gets the short shrift. In some cases, criticism against PD is well deserved. Some claim theres not enough time and resources devoted to PD. Others claim the PD rarely has any relationship to teacher effectiveness. No matter which side of the argument you buy, its clear that we need more time and money to provide high quality professional development that is grounded in student data. But, we first have to identify existing funds targeting professional development, how they are being used and whether these investments have any results on student achievement. Technology can also play a role in creating rich professional development opportunities for teachers. For example, a consortium of states might collaborate to create online modules similar to the online lessons that are being collected on the Internet. In addition, states may want to consider developing an online community where teachers can learn from one another as they begin to implement the standards. Since teacher evaluation systems are moving towards making student performance on state assessments one component of a teachers performance, it will be important to think about grounding all professional development in data, incentivizing excellent teachers to stay in the classroom, and, in some cases, deciding which teachers should no longer be educating students.

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Transitioning From the Old to the New Assessment System. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done to help students and educators transition to the new standards and assessments. And, states should not wait until 2014 to begin making policy changes. While many states have received waivers from the accountability provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), states will run into another bump in the road as they begin to implement the new assessments. Congress will either need to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) or the U.S. Department of Education will have to provide another opportunity for states to modify their approved waivers. Either way, it is critical that states that have adopted the Common Core are not penalized for committing to help their students reach a higher standard. There are several good examples of state implementation efforts. For example, North Carolina and Massachusetts have deleted questions on their current assessments that are not aligned to the Common Core. Kentucky has revised its current assessment to better align with the Common Core and has already administered the new Common Core assessment to students. As expected, student scores dropped in both subjects. However, Kentucky now has a head start on identifying potential student gaps, which will help state leaders start addressing them if/when Kentucky adopts one of the common assessments.

Creating a Governance Structure to Manage the Standards and Assessments Moving Forward The beauty of the CCSS initiative was that it was state-led. Governors, in partnership with state superintendents of schools should continue to consider options for a future governance model. However, there should be no rush to create such a structure. The focus should be on

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. implementation of the standards. Key decisions states will have to confront include, but are not limited to, whether to create a 501 (c) (3) to govern the standards work; how to create a nationwide communications strategy to educate and engage parents and educators; when to revise the standards; what will encompass the research agenda for informing the next iteration of standards; how to define the relationship between the ELA and math standards and forthcoming Next Generation Science Standards being led by Achieve, Inc.; and how to define the relationship between the standards structure and assessment consortia. At a minimum, governors and state superintendents should play a lead role in creating the governance structure, since both organizations led the development of the Common Core.

Predictions for the Future So, will the effort to adopt and implement CCSS succeed? I fully expect CCSS will be implemented and the goals laid out in the 2009 report Benchmarking for Student Success will be fully realized over the next several years. This will require everyonegovernors, state superintendents, legislators, state boards of education, educators, and parentsto take advantage of the opportunities that the Common Core presents and overcome the challenges previously outlined. However, there are some key reasons that lead me to believe the effort will succeed.

Budgets will drive collaboration. The short- and long-term state budget predictions make collaboration a necessity. The rising costs of Medicaid as a proportion of state budgets suggest that states cannot afford to continue increasing their education outlays. While the education community will always seek funding increases, I predict that states will look more actively for ways in which they can collaborate across state lines. Clearly, the implementation of the

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. common assessments (beyond initial development costs) will provide an opportunity to minimize administration costs. Further, CCSS provides a framework around which K-12 and higher education can collaborate. Weve already seen significant progress around the creation of statewide data systems, building on the work of the Data Quality Campaign. I suggest that K-12 and higher education will work more closely to address several issues related to teacher preparation, particularly around teacher preparation and licensure standards and ensuring teachers have content-area expertise, as well as to increase postsecondary learning opportunities for students across the country. Common Core sets the stage for ensuring students are mastering rigorous content and, as a result, are able to succeed when they enroll in college-level courses as high school students or upon entering college.

Productivity will matter more in the future. For those individuals who are disappointed in the focus on accountability, I predict a greater attention to developing metrics to measure productivity in both K-12 and higher education. First, common assessments will provide student performance data that will help us figure out how to best spend limited state resources. This is already happening in some areas where, for example, remedial education has come under scrutiny. While K-12 has largely focused the productivity conversation around the accountability system defined by No Child Left Behind, and most recently the waivers states have submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, there will be increased attention to the development of metrics created by NGA for higher education. State leaders will have no choice but to measure indicators such as degrees awarded, success in first-year college courses, time and credits towards degrees, and graduation rates.

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. The work of both assessment consortiaPARCC and SMARTER Balancedhave significant potential to drive the system toward a greater focus on outcomes. Equally important, these assessments will drive a better understanding of students ability to demonstrate what they know and their ability to apply knowledge in real-world settings. I also believe these assessments will require teachers to demand more from their students.

Business leaders will demand more from the education system. The business community has always played a significant role in the need to create a world-class education system, dating back to the 1989 Education Summit in Charlottesville. As the need for highly skilled employees, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, continue to rise, the business community will continue to put pressure on both K-12 and higher education to produce more graduates that will fulfill labor market needs. Business leaders will become more directly engaged in creating new pathways such as career technical centers, in which industry recognized credentials will be used to identify employees who fill market demand.

Technology investments will start to pay dividends. For years, states have been investing in data infrastructure. Granted, Im the first to admit that we have a long way to go in this area (e.g., acquiring new hardware, training teachers to become more effective users of the technology, using technology to inform school, district, and state fiscal decisions). But, the increased focus on creating greater system efficiencies, including giving teachers more time to focus on instruction, will lead to more effective uses of technology. One area that I predict will see increased attention is virtual schools. In many cases, states have not realized the opportunities (e.g., competency-based systems; sophisticated uses of multi-media as a component of

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Draft: Please do not cite without permission from the author. demonstrating knowledge and skills) that virtual courses provide. State virtual schools will learn from examples such as the Florida Virtual School and APEX Learning, about how to create rigorous coursework and ensure that all students have these opportunities, whether or not they are available at the local high school.

Conclusion Despite the challenges, CCSS presents an opportunity to make fundamental changes to other parts of our education system, which are critical to successful implementation in states. Governors are in the position to accelerate reforms around issues including, but not limited to, professional development, technology use, and teacher evaluation. At the same time, Common Core implementation cannot be accomplished without meaningfully engaged educators. The business community can also play a role in helping ensure that governors, state superintendents, and legislators stay the course, especially when the first set of results from common assessments are released. The key will be to ensure that policiesstate and localare grounded in data, rather than tinkering around the edges and/or layering new policies on top of those that already exist. At the end of the day, successful implementation will depend on whether or not we have the political will and the capacity to stay the course. If not, we risk never realizing the potential of CCSS. And, theres too much at risk for our children and the United States to fail to meet NGA and CCSSOs original vision.

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National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve, Inc. (2008). Benchmarking for success: Ensuring U.S. students receive a world-class education. Washington, DC: Achieve, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.achieve.org/BenchmarkingforSuccess 2 National Governors Association. (2007, April 14). Innovation America: Building a science, technology, engineering and math agenda. Washington, DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. 3 U.S. Department of Education. (2007). 10 facts about K-12 education funding. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/index.html 4 OECD. (2010). PISA 2009 at a glance. Paris, France: OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/pisa/46660259.pdf 5 National Governors Association, the Council of Chief School Officers, and Achieve, Inc. (2008). Benchmarking for success: Ensuring U.S. students receive a world-class education. Washington, DC: Achieve, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.achieve.org/BenchmarkingforSuccess 6 Perry, R. (2010, January 13). Letter to Secretary Arne Duncan. Austin, Texas: Office of the Governor. 7 Pioneer Institute and American Principles Project. (2012, February). National cost of aligning states and localities to the Common Core Standards. Boston, MA: Pioneer Institute and American Principles Project. 8 (2009, March 31). Governor Pawlenty and Governor Doyle announce first joint Minnesota-Wisconsin efforts. 9 Brown, C. G., Hess, F. M., Lautzenheiser, D. K., & Owen, I. (2011). State education agencies as agents of change. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and The Board Foundation.

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