California embraces Common Core testing
March 13, 2015
The state of California is abandoning its school ranking system in favor of a scoring method that will align with Common Core standards. [OC Register]
California has been implementing the Common Core State Standards Initiative since the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. Common Core is supposed to increase the use of technology in the classroom and align California’s math, science, history and language arts K-12 curricula with those of 44 other states.
On Wednesday, the California Board of Education voted unanimously to suspend the state’s Academic Performance Index (API), which gives schools a composite score that factors in results from several standardized tests. The vote marked the second consecutive year that the board of education suspended the release of API scores.
California is not doing away with the API entirely. Rather, the education department is determining how to incorporate scores from the new Common Core testing system into the API, state superintendent Tom Torlakson said.
Students in California have already begun taking the Common Core-aligned standardized tests. The new testing system in conducted on electronic devices.
Critics say the new system will make it more difficult for parents, teachers and real estate agents to determine how well a school is performing. In the past, the API has boiled school evaluations down to a single score.
Additionally, many people nationwide have opposed the implementation of Common Core, arguing that the federal government is dictating school policy.
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