Concord Super Responds to National Ed Standards

In the wake of the state Board of Education's adoption on Wednesday of national education standards for K-12 curriculum, Concord Superintendent Diana Rigby said there will be no watering down of the strict Massachusetts standards.

The eight-member ed board voted unanimously today to adopt the standards that 26 other states have embraced. On the other side of the debate, educators have said that Massachusetts should not veer away from the stringent English and math curricula to meet so-called common core standards. But Rigby disagrees.

"The Common Core Standards in English and Mathematics are internationally
benchmarked standards that define what every student should know and be
able to do in order to be ready for college or careers," said Rigby on Wednesday. "Massachusetts and Concord already have rigorous standards, and according to DESE (department of elementary and secondary education) both the
common core and the state's academic standards are equal in quality and
strength."

The DOE said the state should comply with the new standards by the 2012-2013 school year.

"Later this summer DESE will convene ELS and mathematics curriculum
framework review panels to identify unique Massachusetts standards to
augment and strengthen the Common Core," said Rigby.  

She said the new frameworks will be adopted and published this fall and by 2012-13, all Massachusetts districts will be expected to align their curricula to the new standards."