Dive Brief:
- The Learning First Alliance — an advocacy group representing groups like the National PTA, National School Boards Association, American Federation of Teachers, and National Education Association — on Tuesday recommended a delay in the Common Core's accountability measures.
- The group isn't opposed to the standards, as LFA Executive Director Cheryl Scott Williams says that despite "good intentions," allowing more time for implementation "is the only way we can ensure we get this right."
- Part of the alliance's plan to better prepare schools and districts to implement the standards involves creating a website with best practices for putting the standards in place.
Dive Insight:
It's understandable that the Common Core's speedy rollout has left some states unprepared to teach to the new standards. Initial test scores have been lower than those in the past, and while this might have always been the case for older students regardless of the amount of preparation, parents and some lawmakers have also understandably been concerned.
As a result of this (and also concerns over a national takeover of the education system), states like Indiana and Oklahoma have backed away from the standards entirely, while Louisiana has also attempted (unsuccessfully) to do the same.
Other states have decided sticking with the higher standards is better than taking five steps back to where they began. New York, as U.S. News reports, has passed its own delay and won't place test scores on students' permanent records until 2018. The LFA hasn't specified the length it would prefer for a delay, but the NEA and AFT have both stated preference for a two-to-three year time period — a reasonable amount of time during which that proposed best practices website can be put to good use.
