This from SFGate:
California will toss out its current curriculum and require students to read the same textbooks and learn the same arithmetic as children in most other states, the Board of Education decided Monday.
The board unanimously adopted national academic standards to be in sync with schools across the country. So far, about 30 other states have also adopted the so-called Common Core State Standards.
The new content means discarding the standards California officials adopted about 13 years ago - standards widely considered among the best in the country.
Yet despite initial concerns that the new national academic standards would dumb down California's curriculum, state education officials said Monday that with just a few tweaks and some additional content, the new standards will give kids a stronger, more organized approach to math and English.
"The Common Core standards build upon the best of California's rigorous standards with the best of what other states and high-performing countries offer their students," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "They are designed to be relevant to the real world, and reflect the knowledge and skills that students need for success in college and work."
"The Common Core standards build upon the best of California's rigorous standards with the best of what other states and high-performing countries offer their students," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "They are designed to be relevant to the real world, and reflect the knowledge and skills that students need for success in college and work."
The state board adopted the national standards while including additional topics at some grade levels to beef up areas officials felt were lacking, including penmanship and presentation skills as well as an earlier introduction to algebra in eighth grade.
The new standards will give California a better shot at a federal Race to the Top education reform grant, which would help fund the implementation.
The state is a finalist for the federal stimulus funding and is eligible for up to $700 million. The adoption of the Common Core standards was a prominent part of the state's Race to the Top application, dependent on the approval by the State Board of Education.
The new standards will provide a more logical sequence of learning, especially through arithmetic and into algebra, state Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss said.
The aim of common standards is to raise the academic bar nationwide and allow for an apples-to-apples comparison in standardized tests. In addition, the standards would make it easier to share successful teaching techniques, curriculum and standardized tests and make transitions smoother for students who move to another state.
The new standards are expected to be in place by the 2013-14 school year, Reiss said.
That's a tight timeline to create and adopt new textbooks, train teachers and find the money to buy the books for each of the state's 6.3 million students, especially given budget cuts hitting districts across the state.
"The success or failure of this venture will depend to a great extent on the substance and the adequacy of the implementation plan," said Greg Geeting, chairman of the state's Academic Standards Commission, during public comment at the Monday board meeting. "If you leave this meeting today thinking that you have done a great thing, you will be sadly mistaken if the implementation plan is skimpy or underfunded."
E-mail the writers at jtucker@sfchronicle.com and jho@sfchronicle.com.
(C) San Francisco Chronicle 2010
