Pa. likely to accept national math, English standards
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Pennsylvania is committed to adopting the uniform set of national standards for math and English unveiled last week as long as the standards meet two conditions:
The national common core standards must be at least as rigorous as the ones Pennsylvania already has, and there must be a public comment process in the state.
"To the extent they would be very different might raise concerns. All the information we have based on earlier drafts is they will not be dramatically different," said Adam Schott, executive director of the state Board of Education. "Assuming that and a couple of months to let stakeholders give input, the board's plan is to adopt."
The proposed common core standards were developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Pennsylvania Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak is a board member of the council and had some input into the plan.
It's up to states whether they adopt them, but governors and chief state school officers in 51 states, territories, and the District of Columbia are participating in the process. Currently, standards set by each state vary widely.
The national organizations are receiving public comment until April 2. The current version, considered a draft, is available on the web at www.corestandards.org.
The state board has named Pitt professor Suzanne Lane to compare the latest draft of the common core standards with Pennsylvania's existing academic standards in math and reading. Pennsylvania's academic standards can be found at www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter4/s4.83.html.
Dr. Lane will work with a team from Pitt and panels of educators from across the state to evaluate the draft.
Mr. Schott said that report is expected later this spring but involves too much work to be done in time for the public comment period set nationally for the proposed standards.
Once the report is completed, the state board will seek its own public comment, including conducting hearings and roundtables.
First Published March 15, 2010 12:00 am
