1. Susan H. Fuhrman President Emerita, Teachers College, Columbia University; Founder, Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE)

2. History of CPRE, Consortium for Policy Research in Education
Founded in 1985 to study state and local education reform policies in the wake of A Nation at Risk (1983).
Funded by federal research dollars through competitive grants and by foundations
A multi-university consortium, now Teachers College, Columbia University; the University of Pennsylvania; Stanford; Harvard; the University of Michigan; Northwestern.
CPRE colleagues conceptualized the idea of standards reform in the late 1980s (Smith and O’Day, Putting the Pieces Together: Systemic School Reform, 1991).
Studied the creation and implementation of state standards reforms through the 1990s; federal standards policies and effects through the recent years.

3. Core standards in the United States
State standards of the 1990s
Many states developed ambitious standards to anchor other policies in teacher education, professional development, and testing
Curriculum: a missing piece
Specifications for tests became the de facto curriculum
Schools and districts held accountable for progress on tests, so tests became the strongest influence on schools
State standards differed widely

4. Federal policy in the U. S
Federal policy in the U.S. reinforced the influence of testing during the early 21st century
No Child Left Behind, States to test in English and Mathematics, hold schools strictly accountable and attach rewards and sanctions. Also included disaggregation of scores.
States came together at the end of the decade to form voluntary, national Common Core Standards and new testing organizations to stop the narrowing and dumbing down of the curriculum around test scores. Still no focus on curriculum.
Obama Administration’s “Race to the Top” program offered large grants to states who adopted the Common Core standards and held districts, schools, AND teachers accountable for achievement on tests. Backlash: political; parents and teachers opposed to so much weight on tests.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Reduces the federal role, letting states customize their accountability systems and weakens the role of tests. Most states readopted their previous standards (now called College and Career Ready Standards) with small changes, so the common core standards still exist without that name. And, standards are more alike across the states than before the Common Core.

5. Current Situation: States are the Focus Again
Little or no achievement effects—tests and focus kept changing over the years.
A number of signs of innovation in the states, now taking advantage of greater flexibility under ESSA and a good economy.
Washington state has overhauled teacher compensation and put more resources into teacher preparation. Established a career ladder.
California developed curriculum frameworks for each content area (including those outside the standards); made a large investment in helping locals implement the standards; investing in professional learning and teacher leaders; reformed licensing and credentialing.
Massachusetts developing curricular materials that can serve as guidance to districts as they align their curriculum to new standards. Also partnering with teacher education institutions.

6. Current Situation: Local Reform; State Support Desired
Districts are making a number of changes on their own: investing in new technologies; developing partnerships with teacher education institutions and NGOs for professional development; using coaches for teachers. Less accountability pressure tied to tests probably helps spur innovation.
Attitude toward state standards seems positive (unlike the period when the federal government pushed the standards) but most districts would like more state support, more specific guidance around curriculum, more support for professional development.
Sources: Marc Tucker, Leading High-Performance School Systems, ASCD, 2019; Linda Darling-Hammond, Comments on Tucker book, April 23, 2019; Song et al, “Effects of States’ Implementation of College-and Career-Ready Standards on Student Achievement,” AIR, April, 2019; Desimone et al, “Successes and Challenges of the “New” College-and- Career Ready Standards: Seven Implementation Trends, “Education Researcher, April, 2019.

7. Thank you