Cuomo Calls For 'Total Reboot' Of Common Core Standards
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A task force is recommending that New York State overhaul and rename the Common Core learning standards, shorten the time spent testing students and delay plans to use the tests to grade teachers.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo released the recommendations from his Common Core Task Force late Thursday. The panel says they will help "right the ship'' and restore public trust in the state's education system.
Cuomo called for a "total reboot'' of the Common Core amid criticism that the state rushed out the college-driven standards that have been adopted by most states without adequately training or equipping teachers, and then too quickly linked the standards to standardized tests used to evaluate teachers and students.
Earlier this year, tens of thousands of students across the state chose to opt out of both the English and Math exams, with parents calling the testing methods grueling and stressful.
An activist group that tallied opt-out numbers from the Common Core English tests said 185,000 students refused to take the tests, based on reports from 73 percent of districts.
The New York State United Teachers union also called for a boycott over concerns that test scores would be linked to teacher evaluations.
The reform recommendations were praised by the state's largest teachers union and several advocacy groups.
Among New York City students, 35.2 percent met proficiency standards in math, up from 34.2 percent last year. A total of 30.4 percent met standards in English, up from 28.4 percent last year, 1010 WINS' Derricke Dennis reported in August.
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