Stotsky to Speak on Panel About National Education Standards

Sandra Stotsky, University of Arkansas professor of education reform, will be part of a panel discussion Wednesday, July 27, in Washington about the national educational standards adopted by 44 states and the District of Columbia.

The panel, titled "National Standards and Tests: An Unprecedented Federal Overreach," will begin at 11:30 a.m. CDT with opening remarks by Robert Scott, commissioner of education for the state of Texas. Theodor Rebarber, CEO of AccountabilityWorks, Ze'ev Wurman, a Silicon Valley business executive, and Williamson M. Evers, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, will be on the panel with Stotsky. She holds the Twenty-First Century Endowed Chair in Teacher Quality in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.

The panel discussion will be broadcast live online at the website of the Heritage Foundation, which is co-sponsoring the event with the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research.

Texas is one of a handful of states that has not adopted the national standards promoted by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Stotsky testified before the Texas Legislature in April when it debated a bill prohibiting the state from adopting the national standards. She praised the Texas English language arts and reading standards, saying adoption of Common Core’s English language arts and reading standards would be a step down for Texas and cited an independent judgment of the quality of the Texas standards.

Stotsky served as senior associate commissioner in the Massachusetts Department of Education from 1999 to 2003. During that time, she led the development or revision of all of the Massachusetts K-12 standards. She reviewed all states' English language arts and reading standards for the Fordham Institute in 1997, 2000 and 2005. She co-authored Achieve's American Diploma Project high school exit test standards for English in 2004 and the 2008 Texas English language arts and reading standards.

Stotsky served on Common Core's Validation Committee from 2009 to 2010. She was one of five members of Common Core's Validation Committee who voted against accepting the final version of the standards.

"The Common Core standards in English language arts and reading do not aim for a level of achievement that signifies readiness for authentic college-level work," Stotsky said.

"An unprecedented federal overreach, the Common Core State Standards Initiative has been criticized for the quality of the content of standards, entanglement with federal incentives and a disregard for state educational authority," according to a flier for the event. "Join us as our special guests examine the problems and pitfalls that await if the push for national standards and tests is successful."