The Common Core for students in Ohio

According to the Ohio Department of Education, around 40 percent of Ohio high school graduates are not ready for the level of difficulty that is required for post-secondary education. To remedy this issue, the state adopted the social studies, math, English language arts and science Common Core State Standards, referred to in-state as the Ohio Learning Standards.

Goals
With the integration of these new standards, the ODE and educators hope to provide the state's 1.8 million school children with better preparation for college-level work. The students should learn the following: 

• Better writing, communication and reading skills.
• More complex math concepts and how to use mathematics in varying situations.
• How to analyze a piece of literature and then make claims about the piece using reasoning and critical thinking.
• A strong foundation of science and how to use what they learn in the real world.
• An understanding of social studies content.

The organization went on to state that preparing for the standards will help students go deeper into their studies and learn how to apply what they discover in their daily lives. The Standards are also useful in showing students how the various subjects intersect.

"Ohio's students will not simply memorize facts that are forgotten once they pass the test," stated the Ohio Education Learning Standards. Instead of providing students with only the knowledge they need to get through high school, the committee plans to prepare students with skills to compete for jobs in and out of state as well as to be informed citizens.

Benchmarking
According to the First Lens of International Benchmarking Report, Ohio is unique in its approach to standardized testing in that it uses a system called benchmarking. This means the state compares its education system with those throughout the world in an effort to provide students with a world-class education. The report, published in 2009, looked into the top 10 skills needed in the global economy and found that critical thinking, mastery of literacy, math, information technology and innovative thinking are the top five most required worldwide to boost the global economy.

To teach students these skills on a level that is useful in the global marketplace, Ohio will compare itself to Australia, England, The Netherlands, New Zealand, (Ontario) Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Finland, Ireland and Singapore. Some countries have particularly outscored the U.S. on certain areas, such as math, and that will be taken into account as the ODE reevaluates the standards for state testing.