Common Core, Common Assessments

Forty-five states plus Washington DC have signed up for the Common Core State Standards. The hope was that by having the states come together on common assessments, they would save money on testing. There have been some bumps in the road. To begin with, the states split into two groups on assessments: PARCC and the Smarter Balanced Testing Consortium. Now it's beginning to look as if some states are getting sticker shock at the high cost of these common assessments that were supposed to be less expensive and coming to the conclusion that they could save money by coming up with their own assessments. Make sure that you know what your state is doing. Check here.