Education Update – Just the Facts
Central Florida Education Summit 2013
Cheryl Oldham
Vice President, Education Policy
US Chamber of Commerce
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Institute for a Competitive Workforce
 501(c)(3) affiliate of the U.S. Chamber
 Works to ensure that businesses have
access—today and tomorrow—to an educated
and skilled workforce.
 Promotes high educational standards and
effective workforce training systems so that
they are aligned with each other and with
today's rigorous business demands.
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The Crisis: National
 For the first time in history, kids in America are less
likely to graduate from high school than their parents.
 A third of American students do not complete high
school, a third of students require remediation upon
entering college.
 By 2020, 123 million American jobs will be high-skill,
high-wage, but only 50 million Americans will be
qualified to fill them.
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Of 34 OECD Countries,
U.S.A. Ranks 12th in Reading Literacy
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Of 34 OECD Countries,
U.S.A. Ranks 17th in Science
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Of 34 OECD Countries,
U.S.A. Ranks 25th in Math
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The U.S. spends more money per student
than all but one other OECD country
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Central Florida – the Good
 Florida is a national leader in education reform.
 High standards, strong teacher effectiveness policies, and expansive
school choice options.
 Has made unprecedented gains over the past decade improving
student achievement and closing the achievement gap.
 Leads the nation in students participating in AP courses, particularly
for low-income and minority students.
 Florida’s A–F school grading system provides transparent data about
its schools and has served as a model for many other states.
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Central Florida – the Bad
 For every 100 Florida students, only 76 will graduate from high school,
only 51 will attend college, and only 32 will earn a baccalaureate degree
within six years.
 While four of seven central Florida counties exceed the average state
graduation rate, their low-income and at-risk students graduate well
below that rate.
 Central Florida is home to 50 D and F rated schools, meaning students
lack consistent access to high quality schools.
 Proficiency rates statewide, and those of disadvantaged students, are
low, especially in science. In central Florida, most students are not
proficient in reading and the vast majority of 8th grade students are not
proficient in math.
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Central Florida – the Ugly
 In central Florida counties, low-income student graduation rates range from 67%
to 55%. At-risk student graduation rates are below 50% in all but two counties.
 Statewide, more than 100 high schools are considered “dropout factories”
because graduation rates were 60% or below from 2008–10.
 Fifty-four percent of Florida students attending two-year colleges needed
remediation.
 If Florida’s high schools prepared students for college, the state could save as
much as $224 million in college remediation costs and lost earnings.
 Florida, including the counties of central Florida, needs to build on the state’s
impressive record of achievement gains as it implements even more rigorous
standards and assessments. It cannot afford to lower standards or abandon its
commitment to implementing Common Core State Standards.
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Common Core Standards
•Bipartisan initiative of state leaders
•Led by the Council of Chief State School
Officers (CCSSO) and National Governors
Association (NGA)
•Developed K-12 standards in English
language arts (ELA) and mathematics
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Why Common Standards?
Consistency
• Previously, every state had its own set of
academic standards and different expectations
of student performance.
Equity
• Common standards can help create more equal
access to an excellent education.
Opportunity
Clarity
Economies of
Scale
• Students need the knowledge and skills that will
prepare them for college and career in our global
economy.
• Previous standards were “a mile wide and an
inch deep.” These new standards are clear and
coherent in order to help students, parents, and
teachers understand what is expected.
• Common standards create a foundation for
districts and states to work collaboratively and
achieve economies of scale.
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Common Core State Adoption
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Myth vs. Fact
 MYTH: Common Core is an effort of the federal government to
nationalize education and force states to teach all students the
same way.
 FACT: Common Core is a state-led initiative by governors, state
superintendents, and nonprofit agencies to modernize education
standards.
 Congress nor the U.S. Department of Education was involved in the
development of Common Core, nor have they mandated Common
Core adoption.
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Myth vs. Fact
 MYTH: Common Core standards represent a national
curriculum and tell teachers what to teach
 FACT: Common Core is a set of standards that outline what students
should know and be able to do at a particular grade level in order to
be on track for college and beyond. Curriculum – the map, schedule,
and method for teaching standards – will be a “locally controlled”
decision left up to individual school board members and school
administration and teachers to construct. Common core is the
WHAT, districts/teachers will determine the HOW.
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Myth vs. Fact
 MYTH: Common core is an Obama Administration initiative
designed to teach children socialism and collect data to share
with the Federal government.
 FACT: Common Core State Standards Initiative was created before
the Obama Administration. A result of Governors and state chiefs
recognizing the gap between high school expectations for students
and what students are expected to do in college and career was
inexcusable.
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Myth vs. Fact
 MYTH: The English language arts standards (ELA) require
more non-fiction reading. This mean we aren’t teaching
literature anymore.
 FACT: Common Core standards call for 70% of ALL texts (not 70%
of English Language Arts texts) read in 12th grade to be nonfiction,
which includes content area texts, such as science and history. This
was done to support literacy instruction in other content areas and
underscore the role that all teachers must play in literacy efforts. This
will help ensure students are graduating high school adequately
prepared to read rigorous college and career-level material, a
majority of which are informational texts. Classic literature will still
very much be a part of curriculum taught in Language Arts
classrooms.
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Myth vs. Fact
 MYTH: Common Core State Standards are not any better (or
are worse) than existing state standards
 FACT: Fordham Institute study (2010) confirmed that CCSS are superior to
standards currently in use in 39 states in math and 37 states in English. For
33 states, the new standards are superior in both math and reading.
 FACT: According to analysis by ACT, ¾ of students entering college “were
not adequately prepared academically for first-year college courses.”
 FACT: A 2009 study by NAEP found no state had reading proficiency
standards as rigorous as those on the internationally benchmarked NAEP 4th
grade exam. Only one state, Massachusetts, had an 8th grade test as rigorous
as the NAEP exam. Worse still, a large number of states had reading
proficiency standards that would qualify their students as functionally
illiterate on NAEP.
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What Business Leaders Can Do
 Know Florida’s timeline and plan
 Advocate for high-quality Common Core implementation with your
state elected officials
 Prepare the public for an anticipated drop in test scores
 Engage in the public dialogue on Common Core via social media,
op-eds
 Talk to your local superintendent(s) about forming partnerships with
the business community to help students and parents know what it
takes to be career-ready
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What Business Leaders Can Do
 Inform parents in your company about the standards
 PTA Parent Guides www.pta.org/parentguides
 Develop informational tools and resources to educate
business leaders in your state
 Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
www.kychamber.com/standards
 Pennsylvania Business Council - http://www.pacommoncorestandards.com/
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THANK YOU!
Contact Information:
Cheryl Oldham
Vice President, Education Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Vice President, Institute for a Competitive Workforce, U.S.
Chamber of Commerce Foundation
1615 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20062
Phone: 202-463-5494
Email: coldham@uschamber.com
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