Fordham study trashes education standards used in Kentucky

Says pending new standards should be MUCH better for us

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute just published comparisons of all the states’ existing education standards versus the new Common Core Standards that Kentucky is now adopting. The new standards were developed by a partnership of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors’ Association.

The new standards will guide course development in Kentucky and also will be the basis for the new public school assessments the state plans to introduce in about a year.

The change comes none too soon for Kentucky’s children, because the Fordham report says our existing education standards are “among the worst in the country.”



The new Common Core Standards are not quite perfect in Fordham’s eyes, either, but they definitely offer a huge improvement over Kentucky’s existing standards – if we implement them well.

For example, Fordham rates the new Common Core Standards in English language arts as a “B-Plus.” The new math standards get an even better “A-Minus.”

In sharp comparison, Fordham’s evaluation team gives Kentucky’s existing standards both in English Language Arts and in mathematics the same grade – “D.”

These very weak Kentucky standards have been in place for several years and are used to create the Kentucky Core Content Tests.

It’s interesting to note that Fordham says a few places already have even better standards than the new Common Core Standards. The report mentions California, the District of Columbia, and Indiana.

In addition, Fordham says 11 other states already have standards about as good as the Common Core Standards, as well.

But, that certainly does not include Kentucky.

It’s important to understand these developments.

Kentucky has a history where some in the education crowd constantly preached to all the rest of us about the high quality of our current standards. Clearly, the judgment of those folks regarding education standards needs to be called into question. Advice from those with a history of giving bad advice needs to be considered with extra caution as Kentucky’s educators continue to adopt the Common Core Standards, which are frameworks rather than finished products, into the state’s final and complete education standards documents.