And now VA takes a pass on national standards

Bob Stuart of the News Virginian reports that now

Virginia won’t jump onboard a push for national K-12 standards if it means dumping the state’s standardized test, the governor and other state officials said.
…
Some of the proposed English and math benchmarks already are partially embedded in Virginia’s standardized test, known as the Standards of Learning, or SOL, educators said.

While Gov. Robert F. McDonnell supports the idea of international benchmarks, he said he does not want to substitute the core English and math standards for the SOL’s.

“The commonwealth’s policies have demonstrated a significant commitment to accountability, benchmarks and positive education reform,’’ McDonnell said in a statement. “While we support the development of internationally benchmarked targets, we do not have a desire to substitute the common core standards for our Standards of Learning.”…

“We are 15 years into a successful standards-based reform,’’ Pyle said. “There is no discussion on the Board of Education about abandoning the Standards of Learning.”

The dominoes are starting to fall. See Pioneer’s recent report, Race to the Middle, on the recent draft of the proposed national standards. And look for an additional piece. Soon.