The list of individuals who will be drafting the multi-state “Common Core” standards in reading and math was unveiled today. Reaction from the various education communities and factions is sure to follow.
Actually, there are separate categories of experts and insiders involved. First of all, there are two main “Work Groups,” which will write the standards in math and English; their members include several representatives of Achieve, the College Board, and the ACT, and for now, they’re focused on setting “college and career readiness” standards. You can read the list on the a Web site set up by the two organizations leading this process, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, at www.corestandards.org. The goal is to have a set of college and career-readiness standards completed and ready for comment during in July. The effort will then shift to broader K-12 standards; more names will be added to the Work Groups at that point, with the goal of completing those standards by December.
Two separate groups of experts, known as “Feedback Groups,” have also been established to “provide information backed by research to inform the standards development process” and offer opinion on the draft documents. The NGA and CCSSO note that these groups’ role will be “advisory” and not a “decision-making” one.
I’ve only given the Work Group and Feedback Group lists a cursory glance so far. Regular readers of EdWeek will recognize plenty of the names, in both math and language arts. A couple inclusions worth noting: the list of Feedback Group members —the advisory panels—includes representative of two big organizations that had voiced worries about being shut out the process. Hank Kepner, the president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, is on the math Feedback Group; Carol Jago, the president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of English, is on the English-language arts Feedback panel. A couple other members of the math advisory panel: Hyman Bass, from the University of Michigan; Roger Howe of Yale U; Robert Linn, of the U of Colorado; Jim Milgram of Stanford; and William Schmidt of Michigan State, who many of you know for his work on international standards. In language arts, Checker Finn of the Fordham Institute; Michael Kamil of Stanford; and Tim Shanahan of the University of Illinois at Chicago are represented. Among many others.
Lots of references to “feedback” here. Here’s your chance to offer up your own, once you’ve given the names a look.
UPDATE: My esteemed colleague Michele McNeil offers a more complete look at The List and all that it entails.
UPDATE (2): I’ve corrected this post to say that Carol Jago is the president-elect of NCTE. Kylene Beers is the current president until November.