CCSS supporters advised to spread positive news

If supporters of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) believe that the opposition to the CCSS is becoming too loud, they should consider doing more to ease tensions and stop the spread of misinformation. This is very much possible, Nina Rees, president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, recently wrote in an opinion piece for U.S. News & World Report.

One thing Rees advises CCSS supporters to try is spreading good news related to the Common Core. Fortunately, there is plenty of it out there. Rees wrote that the media will not cover the good news, so those who believe in the Standards need to become more aggressive. For example, high-performing education standards similar to the CCSS are present in education systems around the world.

The CCSS also have plenty of big-name supporters, such as Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, who praised the Standards in a speech at the American Society of News Editors Annual Convention this past June.

"When these Standards are fully implemented, a student who graduates from a high school in any one of these states - who is performing at standard - will be ready to attend and succeed in his or her state university without remedial education," Duncan said. "Historically, in far too many communities, more than half of those who actually graduated from high school needed remedial help in college."