Editor's Note
The poll can be found here:
Posted: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 5:30 pm | Updated: 8:49 pm, Tue Oct 23, 2012.
Posted on October 23, 2012
A state business organization is getting behind an initiative by most governors to toughen academic standards so graduates will be better equipped to compete for jobs against their international counterparts.The Pennsylvania Business Council Education Foundation on Tuesday said it will advocate for the Common Core State Standards, a set of uniform benchmarks for math and reading that have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia.
“This is a state-driven initiative to try and provide more rigor, more complexity, to what students are learning,” said David Patti, president and CEO of the PBC.
He said his organization will spend the next year explaining Common Core. “There’s a lot of stuff going on all over the country ... but it seems really quiet in Pennsylvania.”
According to a poll commissioned by the foundation, Patti could have his hands full. Eighty percent of those polled said they haven’t read or heard of the Common Core State Standards.
Pennsylvania, which has adopted the standards for English language arts and math, plans to fully implement the program in those subjects by July 1, 2013. Students can expect to see more emphasis on critical thinking and spending a longer time gaining a deeper understanding of a more limited range of concepts in math.
While the standards were independently adopted and created by the states, the Obama administration encouraged their expansion through its Race to the Top competition, which has awarded more than $4 billion to pursue education reforms.
Proponents of the standards say they will better and more equitably prepare students for higher education or a career and make it easier for students who change schools across states. Critics point out the standards are being implemented across the country without any kind of pilot, and a Brookings Institution report found that states with high academic standards don’t necessarily have higher achievement.
Steve Robinson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said his organization is supportive of Common Core and has been “educating our members about what’s coming down the road for them.”
He said “the process has been vetted enough with multiple hearings. It’s certainly hasn’t been something that happened overnight.”
In the Aug. 13-16 poll of 600 registered voters conducted by The Tarrance Group, 68 percent who responded said they support the concept of Common Core Standards. Sixty-four percent gave Pennsylvania public schools a grade of C or lower. That number fell to 51 percent when describing schools in the respondent’s neighborhood.
In addition, the poll found that 83 percent believe the same standards should be taught in every part of Pennsylvania; 70 percent want every student to pass a common exam of core material; and 84 percent contend a more rigorous public school curriculum would better prepare students for higher education or jobs.
Patti said his takeaway from the poll is that “people care about education; they think it’s getting worse and we need to be ready for rest of world.
“The business community of Pennsylvania has, for a long time, been saying it’s very difficult for us to find qualified and trained workers,” he said. “Common Core is another approach where states are trying to work together, share best practices, not necessarily identical but common. It isn’t Arizona vs. Pennsylvania any more. It’s all 50 states vs. China, India, Brazil and Western Europe.”
Patti said residents “better start paying attention because this is coming down the pike, from Council Rock to our schools that struggle in Bucks County. This is going to be implemented in the coming years. It’s necessary to do for colleges and careers in the global economy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
He said his organization will spend the next year explaining Common Core. “There’s a lot of stuff going on all over the country ... but it seems really quiet in Pennsylvania.”
According to a poll commissioned by the foundation, Patti could have his hands full. Eighty percent of those polled said they haven’t read or heard of the Common Core State Standards.
Pennsylvania, which has adopted the standards for English language arts and math, plans to fully implement the program in those subjects by July 1, 2013. Students can expect to see more emphasis on critical thinking and spending a longer time gaining a deeper understanding of a more limited range of concepts in math.
While the standards were independently adopted and created by the states, the Obama administration encouraged their expansion through its Race to the Top competition, which has awarded more than $4 billion to pursue education reforms.
Proponents of the standards say they will better and more equitably prepare students for higher education or a career and make it easier for students who change schools across states. Critics point out the standards are being implemented across the country without any kind of pilot, and a Brookings Institution report found that states with high academic standards don’t necessarily have higher achievement.
Steve Robinson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said his organization is supportive of Common Core and has been “educating our members about what’s coming down the road for them.”
He said “the process has been vetted enough with multiple hearings. It’s certainly hasn’t been something that happened overnight.”
In the Aug. 13-16 poll of 600 registered voters conducted by The Tarrance Group, 68 percent who responded said they support the concept of Common Core Standards. Sixty-four percent gave Pennsylvania public schools a grade of C or lower. That number fell to 51 percent when describing schools in the respondent’s neighborhood.
In addition, the poll found that 83 percent believe the same standards should be taught in every part of Pennsylvania; 70 percent want every student to pass a common exam of core material; and 84 percent contend a more rigorous public school curriculum would better prepare students for higher education or jobs.
Patti said his takeaway from the poll is that “people care about education; they think it’s getting worse and we need to be ready for rest of world.
“The business community of Pennsylvania has, for a long time, been saying it’s very difficult for us to find qualified and trained workers,” he said. “Common Core is another approach where states are trying to work together, share best practices, not necessarily identical but common. It isn’t Arizona vs. Pennsylvania any more. It’s all 50 states vs. China, India, Brazil and Western Europe.”
Patti said residents “better start paying attention because this is coming down the pike, from Council Rock to our schools that struggle in Bucks County. This is going to be implemented in the coming years. It’s necessary to do for colleges and careers in the global economy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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