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Passing Notes
A Newsletter from MBAE July 2010 |
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This week, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will make a decision that will have an impact on our children for years to come - whether to adopt the Common Core State Standards. MBAE has a long record of activism in this area, dating back to its development of the standards based reform framework that led to the Education Reform Act of 1993. It was therefore with a strong commitment to maintaining high standards and with a record of leadership for delivering thorough and thoughtful analysis to the business community, that MBAE today issued an independent analysis of the Common Core and Massachusetts standards and voted to support adoption. This issue of Passing Notes will focus exclusively on this important topic to provide links to all the information you need to understand this issue and our position.
In This Issue
- MBAE Supports Adoption of Common Core Standards
- Independent Analysis Conducted by WestEd for MBAE
- Common Core State Standards Resources - Visit our NEW Website for Video
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| MBAE Supports Adoption of Common Core State Standards | | Massachusetts Board to Vote This Week |
Today, the MBAE Board of Directors voted to support adoption of the proposed Common Core State Standards with modifications in specific areas where Massachusetts priorities exceed Common Core. In our view, adoption of the Common Core would benefit the state's competitive economic position by challenging students and educators to develop the skills and knowledge that are essential for success in the future. The proposed Common Core State Standards build on the Massachusetts model - not dismantle it.
The Common Core State Standards were developed by a 48 state consortium, in which Massachusetts played a key role. The states came together to decide what standards the children of the nation should be held to in mathematics and in English language arts. What the group proposed are college and career standards, internationally benchmarked, and based in evidence and research. These are the product of joint work and continued input from teachers, professors, principals, policy makers, and various stakeholder groups. 24 states have already adopted the Common Core State Standards.
Federal policy support for this initiative was most dramatically indicated in the rating structure for Race to the Top competitive grants. Massachusetts committed to voting on adoption by the August 2 deadline in its Race to the Top Round 2 application. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will take their vote on Wednesday, July 21. Commissioner Mitchell Chester has recommended adoption in a Memorandum accompanied by compelling analyses (links included in Memorandum) from panels of educators and others that led him to conclude the Common Core is "at least as strong, if not stronger" than Massachusetts standards.
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| MBAE Commissions Independent Analysis |
WestEd Compares Common Core to Massachusetts Standards
As employers, we know that the world is changing rapidly and we must continually improve to sustain our progress and remain competitive. The Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks are regularly reviewed and revised to reflect that reality. The most recent review began in 2008, before the Common Core was proposed. Since the decision to be made was not simply between current Massachusetts standards or the Common Core, MBAE wanted to know how the Common Core compared to what we would otherwise have been considering for adoption - the draft revised curriculum frameworks. |
 To provide an independent research-based evaluation of how the Common Core compares to these standards, MBAE contracted with WestEd to conduct an analysis to determine the alignment between the two sets. WestEd is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency with extensive experience in assessments, standards and accountability.
Opinion and conjecture are not justifications for making high stakes education decisions such as this one. WestEd's methodology and results were examined by independent expert reviewers and deemed to be accurate, unbiased, and high quality. MBAE is pleased to to provide this dispassionate, thorough and unique review to inform the Common Core debate. We thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Intel, and Nellie Mae Education Foundation for supporting this project, and hope that education stakeholders across the state find it of value.
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| More Information About Common Core State Standards |
Forum Video Available at MBAE's New Website |
presented "Common Core State Standards: Challenges and Opportunities". The forum featured content experts involved in drafting the standards and is available by webcast. In addition to this general introduction and overview of the Common Core State Standards, there are many other sources of information.
Achieve compared the Common Core standards to Massachusetts and California for rigor, coherence and focus. Despite finding significant comparability, the analysis concludes that the Common Core sets " learning expectations for students that improve upon those currently set by California and Massachusetts, and that the college and career ready bar in the Common Core State Standards are set at a level that currently surpasses the level of the mathematics required for graduation in both states."
The Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that Massachusetts could save $57.1 million a year in community college remediation costs and lost earnings if we graduate all of our students college and career ready.
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute offers the latest research and commentary on its Common Core Resources Page and will be issuing a comparative study of its own later this week.
The Pioneer Institute has strenuously opposed the Common Core and will be issuing its opinions in two reports this week. |
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| MBAE Thanks Our Supporters | |
MBAE's work is made possible by the financial support of generous individuals and -
Abt Associates
Associated Industries of Massachusetts AT&T
Bank of America
Braver
The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation
EMC Corporation
IBM
Intel
MassMutual Financial Group
Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Noyce Foundation
Pearson
SolidWorks
Suffolk Construction
Verizon
You can support MBAE every time you search the web or shop online. Just start at www.goodsearch.com for searches or www.goodshop.com for shopping and designate the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education as the charity you want to support. A percentage of advertising revenues and purchases will be donated to MBAE! |
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MBAE is committed to a high quality public education system that will prepare all students to engage successfully in a global economy and society. We bring together business and education leaders to promote education policies and practices based on measurable standards of achievement, accountability for performance, and equitable educational opportunities for all students. | | |
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