Raising Expectations for ALL Students

One of the biggest benefits of the Common Core State Standards is that they raise academic expectations for ALL students – in successful and struggling schools alike. Educators have reported seeing some of the greatest impact of CCSS implementation in America’s urban school districts, which are often among the largest and most challenging school systems. Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools, an organization that works to ensure all urban school students are educated with the highest academic standards, offered these words of support for the CCSS and described how they are already working in urban schools.

Speech at the City University of New York

Michael Casserly, Executive Director, Council of the Great City Schools

October 17, 2014

“My bottom line is this: Common, high standards are the most promising education reform of our time. They are essential to the future of our children, our big cities, and our nation.

“Adopting the standards was a momentous achievement, but now we need to double down in our implementation of them. That is my message.”

And,

“We are rising to the occasion, we are fighting back, and we are teaching our children more effectively, and running our schools more efficiently.

“It may surprise you to learn that our urban students are doing better than ever before in reading and math.

“Between 2003 and 2013, the large-city public schools—in the aggregate—have improved their reading performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, narrowing the gap between our schools and schools nationwide by 32 percent at the fourth-grade level and by 34 percent at the eighth-grade level.

“In math, we have narrowed the gap with schools nationwide by 38 percent in the fourth grade, and by a whopping 43 percent in eighth grade.

“Moreover, we have seen a decrease in the percentage of urban students scoring below the Basic level in all grades and subjects.

“The net result is that more than 100,000 urban fourth graders nationwide are reading and doing math proficiently now than was the case just 10 years ago.”

And,

“Our job in urban education is not to reflect, affirm, and perpetuate the nation’s inequities or to let them hold our kids back. Our job is to overcome these barriers and teach all our children to the highest standards.

“And this is why the Council of the Great City Schools and its member urban school systems are such strong supporters of the Common Core State Standards.

“We support these standards because we know the damage that low expectations can do to our children.

“The United States rightfully prides itself on being the land of opportunity. And it attempts to make good on that promise with the guarantee of a free public education.”

And,

“We understand that America’s fortunes rest in our ability to prepare all our students to meet new and higher standards. And we ask for your help and your energy to make these dreams come true.

“I hope we can do all this together and make every urban public school in America worthy of our terrific children.”

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Achieve has developed materials to help states, districts, and others understand the organization and content of the standards and the content and evidence base used to support the standards. Visit www.achieve.org.

If you find a news clip supportive of the Common Core, please send it to Chad Colby at ccolby@achieve.org.