Many states adopting national education standards

From The New York Times: Less than two months after the nation’s governors and state school chiefs released their final recommendations for national education standards, 27 states have adopted them and about a dozen more are expected to do so in the next two weeks. The quick adoption of standards is attributable in part to the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition. States that adopt the standards by Aug. 2 win points in the competition for a share of the $3.4 billion to be awarded in September.

EARLIER...from The Boston Globe: The Massachusetts commissioner of elementary and secondary education is recommending that the state replace its highly regarded academic standards for English and math with a uniform set of national standards that could lead to major changes in standardized testing. In a memorandum to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell Chester says he believes the national standards are as good as, and in some cases better than, those of Massachusetts.