Recent studies have shown that there might be slight improvement in student test scores as a result of implementing the Common Core Standards, but, in reality, it’s too soon to tell.

Allie Bidwell, a reporter for US News and World Report, has written an article titled “Reports Show Small Gains After Common Core” that documents these studies and their conclusions about Common Core implementation. She points out that implementation in various states occurred at different times, and that while some modest gains have been seen in student test scores, direct attribution of these results to the Common Core is “more than a stretch at this time.”

Despite inconclusive evidence that the Common Core Standards are actually improving education, some states are dropping out of Common Core testing more for political reasons than for a determination that the standards simply are not working.

My own conclusions are that the Common Core Standards have become a convenient hot potato issue for political candidates to appeal to their political base.

~ CCJ