Changes Ahead For Education?

This could potentially be some good news! The Superintendent of Montana's Public Instruction intends to ask the federal government to waive a waiver. Yes, we said wave a waiver, to allow the state to test students based on the new Common Core state education standards, rather than based on the "No Child Left Behind" law.

Denise Juneau told the state Board of Regents on Wednesday that she doesn't want students to have to take both standardized tests. That does seem to be a bit much! Juneau notes that all schools will fail to reach the federal NCLB goal of all students being 100% proficient in reading and math.

Juneau said she wants students to take the Smarter Balance test, which lines up with the Common Core standards. The standards clearly explain what is expected of students at each grade level and the curriculum requires critical thinking rather than memorization.  And really isn’t that what we want for all kids?  To eventually be able to think critically and for themselves!  We will see how it all plays out, but it is obvious to us that we are falling behind the curve when it comes to education.