Maryland and 45 other states have agreed to develop a common set of academic standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, a national shift away from local control over schools that seemed unlikely even a few years ago.
The agreement signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley and state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick was led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. It would only commit Maryland and the other states to craft a common core vision for what every student should know in math and reading, but it is a step that is expected to eventually lead to the adoption of national standards and tests.
"It is a very big deal for the governors to propose this because they are the guardians of states' rights," said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy. Several of the last four presidents have proposed a more national approach to standards and testing in the country, but their efforts met with strong resistance because of the American tradition of allowing districts to decide curriculum for the children in their schools.
Some of the more conservative states, including Texas and South Carolina, did not sign the initiative.
Under the proposal, each state will have to decide whether to adopt the standards when they are brought out late this year. They are expected to be far more focused and slimmed down than states' current standards.
Grasmick said she has discussed the idea with the state school board and expects it to adopt the standards, as well as national tests that would save the state millions of dollars.
The movement to develop common standards has evolved. Just nine years ago, every school district in the state had its own curriculum and Maryland began setting state standards, by working to find common ground among all 24 school districts. Then No Child Left Behind act was passed, and each state had to decide what should be taught and tested, a process that Colleen Seremet, assistant superintendent for instruction in Maryland, said was "difficult work."
But as different states accomplished it, she said, educators began to see they had more agreement than disagreement over what should be taught. Today, she said, Maryland and other states often compare notes.
Teachers unions and local superintendents now embrace the idea of common standards. "I look at it from a practical perspective," said Baltimore County Superintendent Joe A. Hairston. "It seems to me if a child moves from Maryland to Oklahoma, reading must still be one of the things they must learn."
