Dive Brief:
- The New York task force, created by Governor Andrew Cuomo with the intention "to overhaul the Common Core system — to do a total reboot," has now released a variety of recommendations, including the enlistment of teachers and parents to help create state standards and tests.
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Recommendations also include the modification of early grade standards "so that they are more age-appropriate" and "reducing the length of the tests and considering a shift to untimed tests," and in regards to teacher evaluations, the report suggested eliminating the use of student test scores as indicators of educator competence.
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The New York Times writes that "a majority of the current (New York) board (of education) would probably support many of the changes that the task force is suggesting."
Dive Insight:
With ESSA now signed into law, recommendations like those suggested by Cuomo's task force will likely become more and more common, as states assume greater control over education standards, which will manifest in various incarnations.
New York's task force, which was comprised of teachers, principals, administrators, a superintendent, parents, politicians and Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, is a simple way for legislators to take the temperature of education experts working in districts and schools regarding contentious issues like teacher evaluations and Common Core.