Common Core State Standards Initiative Goals

If you’ve become curious about this relative newcomer in the world of standardized testing, common core, you’re not alone. It seems as though each year, students are faced with yet another battery of standardized tests. As a result, students, parents and teachers have begun to question their true purpose.

In addition, there’s no getting around the fact that prep work for these tests can become almost overwhelming. There are study guides to read, software-based materials to complete and, unfortunately, hours of prep work involved in a student scoring to the best of their ability. All this work places a strain on students and teachers, especially parents who have two or more school age children.

Common Core Goals

Despite the strain, the Common Core State Standards Initiative has a noble goal. Each year, students across the United States graduate from high school woefully ill-equipped to live in the ‘real world.’

When tested, an alarming number of graduates were far behind other countries in core subjects such as English and math. Many were found to have extreme difficulty composing a grammatically correct resume or performing simple division problems without the assistance of a calculator. Clearly, this was an issue which needed addressing.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative aims to address this very issue. By setting in place an agreed-upon set of standards, the Initiative will hopefully ensure that each student is getting the best possible education. It will also help to ensure that students are keeping up with their peers in other countries, which is of ever-increasing importance in our global economy.

Administration of the Common Core State Standards Initiative testing battery at each grade level, beginning in pre-kindergarten, hopes to ensure that if an area for improvement does show itself, it can be tackled immediately. Although the tests are not designed to be used as tools for identifying children who may benefit from remedial or advanced placement tests, they could also be used for these purposes.