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Common Standards: Moving Toward a Final Version

By Catherine Gewertz — April 21, 2010 1 min read
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What’s up, you might wonder, with those common standards?

It’s been nearly three weeks since the public comment period closed, and not a peep. Yes, we remember the estimate that it would take six to eight weeks until the final version (we can stop saying “draft” at that point) is out, which would be the last half of May. But we couldn’t help wondering: maybe that summary of 10,000-plus public comments would be out earlier? And is the six-to-eight-week timeline for the standards themselves holding true, or could they be—gasp!—out even earlier?

Well, don’t hold your breath for any huge insights or excitements today. National Governors Association spokeswoman Jodi Omear tells me they are working on the comments summary and incorporating “appropriate feedback” into the standards. She said to stay tuned for both documents in “late spring.”

In the meantime, if you’re going through common standards withdrawal, you can watch a live webcast of a session about it tomorrow. There have been many salons about the topic, but this one is a bit unusual because it features two of the lead writers: David Coleman from the English/language arts panel, and Jason Zimba from the math panel. The session, which will be held at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute here in Washington, runs from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Eastern time tomorrow. You can view the webcast live here, and you can also e-mail questions to the panel through this site.

UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun asked a sampling of teachers to review the standards and delivers this report. The thoughts of Arkansas teachers who attended a meeting there sponsored by the state department of education are here.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.