The National Association of Secondary School Principals is the latest group to endorse national standards.
In a position statement released yesterday, the group is calling on Congress to establish an independent group of experts to create national standards and “authentic, reliable” national assessments. They also ask for federal money to underwrite states’ work to implement the standards and to pay for the administration of the national exams.
Add NASSP to the growing list of education groups that are endorsing national standards. The most prominent so far are the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Council of the Great City Schools. But Congress must sign on before they’ll become reality. Back in 2007, prominent lawmakers introduced bills to support the development of national standards. Not much has happened since. Judging from the debates of the 1990s, getting Congress’ endorsement won’t be easy.
For a sunnier view. read what Robert Pondiscio writes at the Core Knowledge Blog. He suggests that the nation could simply follow the curriculum already established by, well, Core Knowledge, of course. That would leave plenty of eduwonk’s imaginary $5 billion to pay for one-on-one tutoring for disruptive students.
