Georgia Education Standards Make Large Jump
February 3, 2016
After years of grading Georgia extremely low when it came to education standards, the education journal, Education Next, saw great improvement within the state’s standards in 2015.
According to the AJC, Georgia saw the largest jump of any state in the United States by jumping from an F the last time the rankings were done in 2013, to an A in 2015. This was the first time Georgia had received better than an F in the biannual rankings since 2003 when it received a D-.
Common Core- a set of standards adopted by 43 states with the goal of having a common objectives and standards to assess student proficiency – has been a point of controversy in some states, but is listed in the report as part of the reason for Georgia’s jump in academic standards.
Paul E. Peterson, one of the authors of the reports said Common Core has helped teachers know what they should teach as well as raising expectations for students.
It is yet to be seen whether higher standards will lead to higher achievement in students. Peterson cites Massachusetts as an example of a school that has had high standards and high achievement rates while South Carolina has had high standards and low achievement rates.
