That pesky 15%

At one point Superintendent Tom Luna referenced a letter Utah got from Secretary Arne Duncan as evidence that states, including Idaho, had not lost control of their standards.  He was trying to obtain a similar letter for Idaho.

However, timing is everything.  It needs to be noted Utah’s letter was received after  Race To The Top but before the NCLB waiver/contract.  (And Idaho hasn’t received any similar assurance.)

There is plenty of documentation available that shows just how much control of our standards we still have.

How about the copyright:

Copyright

This website and all content on this website, including in particular the Common Core State Standards, are the property of NGA Center and CCSSO, and NGA Center and CCSSO retain all right, title, and interest in and to the same.

So Idaho doesn’t own these standards and is subject to the copyright.  Doesn’t sound like we have much control.

Let’s concentrate for just a minute on the 15% we can add. I know we didn’t win the RTTT grant and that we are not a member of PARCC but the language is included because it is relevant to show the same language is used across documents.

See below for repeated 15% language:

NCLB waiver:
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/esea-flexibility/index.html
Then download the document entitled: ESEA Flexibility Policy Document

Standards that are Common to a Significant Number of States:
“Standards that are common to a significant number of States” means
standards that are substantially identical across all States in a
consortium that includes a significant number of States.  A State may
supplement such standards with additional standards, provided that the
additional standards do not exceed 15 percent of the State’s total
standards for a content area.

Race to the Top Grant
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf

Common set of K-12 standards means a set of content standards that
define what students must know and be able to do and that are
substantially identical across all States in a consortium. A State may
supplement the common standards with additional standards, provided that
the additional standards do not exceed 15 percent of the State’s total
standards for that content area.

Race to the Top Assessments
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/eligibility.html
One of the eligibility requirements:

• Submit assurances from each State in the consortium that, to remain
in the consortium, the State will adopt a common set of college- and
career-ready standards (as defined in the notice) no later than December
31, 2011, and common achievement standards (as defined in the notice)
no later than the 2014-2015 school year.
Here is the notice:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-04-09/pdf/2010-8176.pdf

Common set of college- and career- ready standards means a set of
academic content standards for grades K–12 that (a) define what a
student must know and be able to do at each grade level; (b) if
mastered, would ensure that the student is college- and career-ready (as
defined in this notice) by the time of high school graduation; and (c)
are substantially identical across all States in a consortium. A State
may supplement the common set of college- and career-ready standards
with additional content standards, provided that the additional
standards do not comprise more than 15 percent of the State’s total
standards for that content area.

SBAC
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Smarter-Balanced-Governance.pdf
A. Membership Criteria
Any state that chooses to join the Consortium can do so based upon the following membership criteria:
1. Appropriate signatures on the Memorandum of Understanding (Consortium MOU),

2. Has adopted standards in English language arts and mathematics that
are designed to ensure that all students gain the knowledge and skills
needed to succeed in college and the workplace and that are
substantially identical to the standards adopted across all states in
the Consortium—a state may supplement the common set of college- and
career-ready standards with additional content standards, provided that
the additional standards do not comprise more than 15 percent of the
state’s total standards for that content area,
3. Adhere to the governance plan as further outlined in this document,
4. Agree to support the decisions of the Consortium,
5. Agree to follow agreed-upon timelines, and
6. Participate in the decision-making process and, if a Governing State, in the final decision.
Used to state:
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/rtta2010smarterbalanced.pdf – pg. 24
Adopt Common Core State Standards no later than December 31, 2011.

PARCC
http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCC%20Application%20-%20FINAL.pdf
Eligibility Requirement (3):

To be eligible to receive an award under this category, an eligible
applicant must submit assurances from each State in the consortium that,
to remain in the consortium, the State will adopt a common set of
college- and career-ready standards (as defined in the NIA) no later
than December 31, 2011, and common achievement standards (as defined in
the NIA) no later than the 2014-2015 school year.
Here’s the NIA:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-04-09/pdf/2010-8176.pdf

Common set of college- and career- ready standards means a set of
academic content standards for grades K–12 that (a) define what a
student must know and be able to do at each grade level; (b) if
mastered, would ensure that the student is college- and career-ready (as
defined in this notice) by the time of high school graduation; and (c)
are substantially identical across all States in a consortium. A State
may supplement the common set of college- and career-ready standards
with additional content standards, provided that the additional
standards do not comprise more than 15 percent of the State’s total
standards for that content area.

 

ACHIEVE
http://www.achieve.org/files/FINAL-CCSSImplementationGuide.pdf – pg. 22

While states will not be considered to have adopted the common core if
any individual standard is left out, states are allowed to augment the
standards with an additional 15% of content that a state feels is
imperative. ….
In fact, the 15% guideline should be considered
primarily as a common-sense guideline to meet specific state needs.
States should be judicious about adding content and keep in mind the
possible implications of doing so. Remember, a central driver in the
creation of the CCSS was to develop standards that were common across
states lines – and clear and focused – the opposite of the “mile wide,
inch deep” standards so prevalent in many current state standards. A
literal interpretation by states of the 15% guideline (that is 15% added
at every grade level and in each subject) would undermine the very
reason the states developed the Common Core State Standards in the first
place.

So you can either go to the SDOE website and believe what they are saying, or you can go to these documents and read for yourself.  But 15% doesn’t offer a lot of state control.