Education secretary to set aside up to $350 million to help states develop common, voluntary standards and assessments
Primary Topic Channel: Assessment & Evaluation
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U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is offering federal cash incentives to achieve one of his top priorities: developing national standards for reading and math to replace a current hodgepodge of benchmarks in the states.
Duncan said June 14 that the efforts of 46 states to develop common, internationally measured standards for student achievement would be bolstered by up to $350 million in federal funds to help them develop tests to assess those standards.
Duncan made the announcement in suburban Cary, N.C., at a conference for education experts and 20 governors hosted by the National Governors Association and the James B. Hunt, Jr., Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy.
Education decisions generally are controlled by the states, and the federal government cannot mandate national standards. That makes for wide variation from state to state. Students and schools deemed failing in one state might get passing grades in another.
It will be up to states to adopt the new standards voluntarily. But Duncan has been using his bully pulpit to push the effort--and now he's using Washington's checkbook, too. He said spending up to $350 million to support state efforts to craft assessments would be Washington's largest-ever investment in encouraging a set of common standards.
The money will come from the federal Education Department's $5 billion "Race to the Top" fund to reward states that adopt innovations the Obama administration supports. The money is part of the State Stabilization Fund from the federal stimulus package.
"Historically, this was a third rail. You couldn't even talk about [standards]," Duncan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "What you've seen over the past couple years is a growing recognition from political leaders, educators, unions, nonprofits--literally every sector--coming to realize that 50 states doing their own thing doesn't make sense."