States experiment with common education standards

Forty-two states are committed to teaching children according to a single set of new standards, and many class lessons are changing already, reports the New York Times. This is a key development in the education of our kids. A key flaw of No Child Left Behind, after all, was that states could always adjust their standards to make it seem as though they were improving.

The federal government has never outlined a single set of national education standards because education is a responsibility of the states. But the federal government does administer a test all the same. And while states say they’re teaching just fine by their own standards, this impartial national test shows that actually only a third of fourth-graders read as well as they should. Read our recent report on education standards to learn more.