Common Core Standards Initiative

The Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Governors Association, Achieve, Inc, and the College Board have initiated a process of developing common standards of student learning, to be developed collaboratively by states. Recognizing the need to prepare all students for college and career readiness in an increasingly global labor market, the standards will be aligned with college and career requirements and internationally benchmarked. The standards to be addressed are K-12 mathematics and English-language arts. As of June 1, 2009, 49 states and territories had joined the initiative. The memorandum of agreement included the following principles:

• [This] work will… increase the rigor and relevance of state standards across all participating states; therefore, no state will see a decrease in the level of student expectations that exist in their current state standards.

• States commit to a state-led process to develop a common core of standards in English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12.

• This work will build directly on recent efforts of leading national organizations and states which have focused on developing college- and career-ready standards. The purpose of this effort is to raise the bar for all students and states and it will draw on educational experts, and research-based evidence.

• States will have the opportunity to review the standards during and throughout the entire development process. The standards will also be reviewed by an independent validation group prior to being made available for states to adopt.