An Interview with Neal McCluskey: Common Standards or Common Sense or What?

Neal McCluskey

6.1.10 - Michael F. Shaughnessy - As no doubt many of your readers are aware, on June 2 the final version of the “common” mathematics and English language arts standards are supposed to be released by the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

An Interview with Neal McCluskey: Common Standards or Common Sense or What?

Michael F. Shaughnessy

Eastern New Mexico University

Portales, New Mexico

1)  Neal, what is this upcoming conference about National Standards all about?

As no doubt many of your readers are aware, on June 2 the final version of the “common” mathematics and English language arts standards are supposed to be released by the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Our forum is going to debate the most important question when it comes to those standards, and it is NOT whether the standards themselves are high-quality. It is whether or not there is good reason to believe that adopting national standards will improve American education.  

Sadly, other than by a few, outspoken national-standards critics, this absolutely essential question has been largely unaddressed. Well now it must be addressed, because once the CCSSI standards are released states have to decide if they will adopt them, and their citizens deserve to know all they can before those decisions are made.

2) When and where will it be held? And who will be sponsoring it?

The forum will be held at the Cato Institute at noon on June 2, and can either be attended live or viewed online at http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7182. Cato is sponsoring the discussion, but it couldn’t have occurred without the help of panelists Lindsey Burke of the Heritage Foundation, Michael Petrilli of the Fordham Institute, and Sandra Boyd of Achieve, Inc.

3)  Who has been proposing these national Education Standards?

Many people have argued that the nation needs common education standards, but the standards to be released on the 2^nd come from a joint project of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Critically, though, this is not just a voluntary, state-led effort. The Obama administration is pushing very hard to get states to sign on to the standards, making doing so important if a state is to compete for federal Race to the Top funding. The administration has also published a “blueprint” for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that puts common standards at its core.

4) What is in writing thus far?

So far the CCSSI has published two drafts of its standards, each of which has led to changes to what was published. The final standards are scheduled to be released on June 2. 

5) Is it safe to call these standards Federal standards as opposed to state standards?

This is a heavily debated question, because how these are framed can have a big impact on their political viability.

They definitely will not be state standards, if by that we mean standards set by each state. States that adopt the standards have to take them all, and the standards must constitute at least 85 percent of an adopting state’s overall mathematics and English language arts standards. It is probably also not entirely accurate to call these federal standards as they are not being written by the feds. They are, however, much closer to that than national-standards advocates would have us believe: It is federal money that is pushing many states to sign onto the CCSSI effort, and we have seen since the ESEA was first passed in 1965 that what Washington funds, it ultimately tries to control.

It is probably most accurate to call these standards, based on the intention behind them and forces behind their adoption, federally encouraged national standards, but that is, of course, debatable.

6)  Are people in general optimistic about this change or are most people skeptical?

I would guess that most members of the public know very little about the CCSSI and the forces encouraging adoption of the standards it produces. Among state leaders, so far 48 states’ governors and chief state school officers have signed onto the Initiative, but that was without committing to adoption and in pursuit of federal dollars. So I think the best we can say is it is very hard to tell how much people are truly enthusiastic about the coming CCSSI standards and having them replace their states’ own standards. And, as I’ve mentioned before, there has been almost no meaningful discussion about whether or not there is good reason to believe that national standards will improve American education.

7)  Now, what about kids with special needs and exceptionalities...how would blind or deaf children be expected to meet these standards ? Has anyone looked down the road on this issue?

The CCSSI folks have looked at how to accommodate kids with special needs, and I’d encourage interested readers to go to the CCSSI website and look at the specifics. I have been primarily concerned with whether or not national standards will help American education overall – and from the research it is appears they won’t – and haven’t looked in depth at provisions for special-needs kids.

8) ANd what about children with autism, head injury, mental retardation?

Again, check out the CCSSI website.

9) What have I neglected to ask ? 

You asked all the important questions, I think. All I’d add is if you are going to be in DC on June 2 from noon until 1:30 you are welcome to attend the debate live. You can register at http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7182 unitl noon on June 1, and there might be seating available for walk-ins on June 2.