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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Debra Humphreys, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
202-387-3760, ext. 422
humphreys@aacu.org
President of Association of American Colleges and Universities Releases Statement on Common Core Standards
Carol Geary Schneider Applauds Effort, But Calls for Nation to Face Up to the Serious Achievement Shortfall and To Expand Standards Beyond Just Math and English
Washington, DC—March 11, 2010—Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, issued a statement today calling the common core standards released by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers yesterday an important first step, but far from what is really needed to face up to America’s achievement shortfalls.
The statement, “A Good Start—But Miles to Go Before Students Actually Meet High Standards,” argues that the standards released yesterday are an important first step and calls for states to embrace the standards. Schneider also, however, notes that “we need to be realistic about where today’s students actually are in terms of achievement.” Schneider notes that she decided to make this statement because of concern that we not underestimate the task before us. “We shouldn’t mislead the public about the widening gap between what employers expect and students’ levels of accomplishment on a host of essential learning outcomes,” she noted.
The statement makes four key points:
-The nation must face up to the reality of our current achievement shortfall. Based on AAC&U research conducted as part of its VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) initiative, it is clear that “many of today’s college sophomores and juniors are not yet reaching [the] levels of achievement” defined for high school students in the common core standards. “College faculty in every kind of institution currently are engaged in serious catch-up efforts in the early years of college to overcome the preparation deficit [of] many high school graduates.”
-Math and English are not enough. The new standards are very limited because they address only math and English. The statement notes that “today’s students need far more than just reading, writing, and math skills.” Employers are, in fact, calling for greater attention to science and technology, global knowledge, teamwork skills, cross-cultural competence, and ethical decision-making, as well as communication skills and quantitative literacy.
-New standards must be accompanied by new ways of organizing students’ learning and new approaches to assessment. The standards released yesterday, “by themselves are not a strategy for systemic change,” and call for new, more complex approaches to assessment at both the K-12 and college levels. The statement notes, for instance, that, to meet these standards, “students need to spend extensive time on reading, writing, projects, research, real-world applications and engagement with unscripted problems. By definition, these kinds of problems do not lend themselves to ‘one right answer’” on multiple choice tests.
-Many sectors of our society will need to come together to truly prepare students for success in college and life beyond college. The statement notes AAC&U’s ongoing efforts in its Liberal Education and America’s Promise initiative (LEAP) to help all students meet high standards on a full array of twenty-first century learning outcomes and commits AAC&U to continued efforts to “partner with state leaders, school administrators, and teachers to develop additional standards in essential knowledge and skill areas and to assist in developing curricular assignments and pathways from school through college that will raise the levels of student achievement and secure America’s future.”
The statement concludes by noting that “the truth is that every American student deserves, across school and college, the advantages of an engaged and rigorous liberal education—the kind of education that will truly prepare them for success in college, work, and life.”
The full text of the statement is available on AAC&U’s Web site at: www.aacu.org/about/statements.
About AAC&U
AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises 1,200 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.
AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.
Information about AAC&U membership, programs, and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.
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