We had heard rumors that there was something going on in Alabama. State Board of Education member Betty Peters has been ringing the bell about Common Core for years. Now there is something to celebrate.
EdWeek broke the news today that Alabama has withdrawn from both testing consortia, Smarter Balanced and PARCC. The state's assessment director, Gloria Turner confirmed that they will not longer participate in the consortia developed testing. They will "pursue a different avenue for assessments."
Back in 2011 Governor Robert Bentley, who sits as President of the State School Board in AL, introduced a resolution to rescind that state's adoption of the standards. His vote, along with that of board members Betty Peters and Stephanie Bell, was unfortunately not enough to get the resolution passed.
The news is not totally unepxected. Alabama has been lukewarm about their involvement in the consortia from the start. They were only an advisory state in both consortia which meant they had no vote in the consortia. Back in September at the advisory meeting they were asking if there would be alternatives to the planned on-line assessments.
Missouri, on the other hand, is a governing member of the Smart Balanced Consortia. You can only belong to one group if you want to be a governing member and have a vote.
The news is a mixed bag for Common Core. Director Turner said that the state plans to continue implementation of the standards.
Good news on the assessments!
ReplyDeleteBut why keep the standards? Don't the assessments follow the standards?
Pass the popcorn.