“Closing the Expectations Gap”
And just four states—Delaware, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska—said they are requiring that districts use materials aligned to the common standards in English/language arts and mathematics.
The findings are part of the latest annual survey from Achieve, a nonprofit organization founded by governors and business leaders that played a key role in helping to develop the common-core standards. All but one state, Montana, responded to the survey this year.
Thirty-nine states say they have developed a coordinated agency-wide plan and calendar for professional development aligned to the common core (or their own career- and college-ready standards), while 20 states say they have or will identify providers for districts and schools to access.
“One of the shortcomings of past state standards-based reform efforts was the lack of attention to implementation, including ensuring that curricular and instructional resources and meaningful professional development were available,” the report says.
The report provides little detail about the types of curricular materials states are developing and providing, other than to say they include model units, lessons, curricular maps, or graphic organizers. The voluntary offerings supplied by states are typically housed on state education agency websites, the report says.
It also probed whether states are matching their standards with high school graduation requirements, finding that while the number is growing, at 23 states, it’s still fewer than half.
