Is my child learning what is needed to be successful?

Even if our kids are coming home with straight “A”s, how do we really know if they’re learning what they need to succeed in college, in career, and in life? One teacher’s “A” could be another teacher’s “C”.

We need to have clear and consistent standards for what our kids should be learning.

That is the thinking behind the Common Core—a common set of high learning standards for kids.

They were developed by education leaders and experts from nearly every state, with feedback from thousands of principals, teachers, parents, and community members.

These standards give our teachers and our parents a roadmap to success in college and career for our kids. That’s how the Common Core State Standards were developed, and that’s what they are about.

The Common Core standards are not a curriculum. They don’t prescribe what is taught or how it is taught. Curriculum is a local decision. A teacher’s method is a classroom-by-classroom decision.

Change is hard, but we can’t afford to stand still. Our world is changing, and our students need to keep up. These standards represent a new bar, a higher bar, the right bar for what our kids should master in school.

And when you set a new bar of performance, you need a new measurement. That’s the importance of the assessments aligned to the new standards.

Tests help answer the question: Is my child learning?

Tests aligned to high standards help answer the question: Is my child learning the right stuff to be successful?

Parents need answers to these basic questions.

Our families need a roadmap to success for their child.