Achieve
July 2008
It was Al Gore who once told an audience, by way of a mistranslation rich with Freudian undertones, "that we can be E Pluribus Unum--out of one, many." Not quite. Achieve has more success with the concept in this fine new report which depicts how several states (it evaluated English standards in twelve, math in sixteen) have successfully created a "common core of standards in English and mathematics." As the authors write: "This report demonstrates that state education policymakers--focusing on their own goals, working with their own constituents and on their own timetables--will put in place rigorous, competitive standards that prepare all students for college and careers." (To be sure, those states had plenty of help from Achieve and its American Diploma Project.) What's really important here is the evidence that similar if not identical multi-state standards are attainable in these United States--and Achieve wants many more of them. Sans federal interference. Sounds right to us. Read Achieve's analysis here.