It would appear from this short article in Education Week that there is now a new movement to add common core standards in K-12 science and social studies to those being developed for math and language arts. The title of the article is a little misleading as the math standards are currently being developed and are supported by 49 states including Washington.
This could add an additional layer of complexity to our work that would involve two additional content areas with once again needing to go through a possible alignment process. The state science standards have undergone multiple revisions over time and I do not look forward to revisiting this process once again with national standards. I anticipate that there will be significant pressure for our state to adopt these standards when and if they are developed. If this is the direction of the future it would be good to have this knowledge now so that we can discuss options on how to proceed.
It will be a welcome relief when we can put the alignment and curriculum process behind us so that we can focus on and support instructional practice? I believe that there are some valid arguments for moving towards national standards, but I am frustrated with the timing and the continued emphasis on NCLB that includes nonsensical requirements for adequate yearly progress. What do teachers think about this potential for additional national standards in science and social studies? If the pattern continues in these content areas, national assessments will follow.
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