AFT Presses Need for Curriculum Linked to Standards

Union worries about lack of content during assessment design

Washington

Keenly aware that the common academic standards and assessments have the potential to reshape American education, the American Federation of Teachers is pressing a key question: What sort of curriculum should lie between the standards and the tests?

That question was front-and-center on Feb. 23 as the AFT ’s committee on implementation of the common standards met at the 1.4 million-member union’s Capitol Hill headquarters. The committee is exploring what it can do to ensure that the common standards are translated with fidelity into classroom teaching. By late spring, the committee plans to recommend to the union ways it should position itself to influence professional development, curriculum, common assessments, and other aspects related to the new standards.

All but seven states have adopted the new set of common academic standards, and all but five states are involved in designing new tests for those learning goals. The standards were developed by...