The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State Schools Officers have brought together content experts from around the country (and a few from other countries) to work on aligning curriculum and assessment across the country. A total of 48 states (all but Texas and Alaska), plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have signed on as participants in the process. This does not mean that everybody will adopt the standards.

In his June 2nd statement, Governor Schwarzenegger said: “I created the Academic Content Standards Commission to consider the Common Core Standards and make recommendations for policy changes to ensure all of California’s standards are as rigorous as or more rigorous than those laid out in Common Core. My appointments to the Standards Commission will be made this week, and my Administration looks forward to receiving their recommendations.”

On June 3rd, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell urged support of the newly released Common Core State Standards Initiative in English-language arts and mathematics. The common core standards are the result of a state-led effort to increase rigor and build consensus on what students should know as they advance from kindergarten through high school so they will graduate ready for college and careers.

"These standards will help us improve instruction and student performance by making more focused and explicit the knowledge and skills students need to know as they move up the grades. This will better prepare students for successful mastery of more complex and advanced concepts and applications required for success in high school and later in college and careers. This clearly defined and well-articulated staircasing of student skills will help accelerate improvement in student performance and close the achievement gap," he said.

From EdSource we know the Commission will have to complete its work quickly and the decision on whether or not to accept the proposal must come soon:

According to legislation signed in January, California has until July 15 to put forward a proposal to revamp its K-12 standards, and the State Board of Education has until Aug. 2 to accept them. These deadlines are set for California to compete in the next round of funds from Race to the Top, the federal effort to revamp the country's educational systems.

If there’s airtime for what’s going on in education, we’ll learn more on TV!