When business and education leaders gathered at the Arizona Business and Education Coalition (ABEC) meeting on May 31, there was one topic that had everyone talking: the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This voluntary set of national standards establishes the skills and knowledge students should have in mathematics and English language arts to ensure college and workforce readiness. Arizona adopted the CCSS in June 2010, and plans to have them fully implemented by the 2013-2014 school year, the CCSS website states.
The Standards will be more demanding than the state's AIMS test, which has some parents and educators worried about how students will perform under the CCSS, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.
However, many local employers are looking forward to seeing a more skilled workforce in the future. Mark Curry, community bank president for Wells Fargo Bank in Austin, discussed this topic as a featured speaker during the meeting.
Next, the ABEC plans to discuss how it can fund a new CCSS-aligned test to replace the AIMS. According to the news source, this could be called Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC.
No comments yet.