[12/12/14 Update: Common Core repeal maneuver fails in Ohio House, from AP and Newark Advocate. Effort likely dead for this year but sure to be brought up in new year.]
Anticipating a vote by the Ohio House of Representatives on a bill repealing Ohio's Implementation of Common Core State Standards, the ASA President Elect David Morganstein today emailed its Ohio members urging them to contact their Ohio State Representatives voicing their support of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and urging her/his representative to oppose H.B. 597. See the text of Morganstein's email below.
The ASA supports the CCSS because of its statistical content for grades 6-12. See this May 2010 Amstat News piece for ASA's involvement in the CCSS process: Common Core Standards Reviewed. See also
- this ASA publication, Bridging the Gap: Between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics.
- ASA, NCTM Call on School Administrators, Universities to Increase Training for Pre-K–12 Statistics Teachers, Amstat News, May 2013
- The Statistics Education of Teachers, Christine Franklin and Tim Jacobbe, Amstat News, March 2014.
- Education Updates and Resources, Rebecca Nichols, Amstat News, May 2013
- Common Core State Standards and the Future, Christine Franklin, guest editorial, The Mathematics Educator, 2013.
The ASA Board approved such call-to-action emails in 2009. A previous call-to-action email was issued in 2012: ASA President Asks ASA Members to Help Avoid Steep Cuts to NSF, NIH, and Federal Statistical Agencies.
See other ASA Science Policy blog entries. For ASA science policy updates, follow @ASA_SciPol on Twitter. For more on ASA science policy, see http://amstat.org/policy/.
From: President
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Subject: Message from American Statistical Association: Ohio’s New Learning Standards
Dear Ohio ASA Member,
I write to ask you to take just a few minutes to contact Ohio House legislators and urge them to support Ohio's New Learning Standards. As you've likely heard, the Ohio legislature is considering a bill, H.B. 597, to repeal Ohio's implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The American Statistical Association supports the CCSS because of the inclusion of statistical content for grades 6-12.
Please identify your representative using the Member Search feature at www.ohiohouse.gov and write or call her/him, expressing your support for Ohio's New Learning Standards and urging they oppose H.B. 597. (If you know they oppose H.B., 597, please thank them.) Here are a few possible reasons to state for your support:
- Ohio's New Learning Standards ensure Ohio's youth will be well prepared for the 21st-century work force
- Ohio's New Learning Standards ensure students have fundamental skills in understanding data, a skill essential for everyone in our data-centric world
- Ohio's New Learning Standards ensure Ohio's students are learning the material necessary to be as successful in college and the workplace
For additional tips, see The Ohio Standard website, www.theohstandard.org/write-your-legislator.
Please take this action as soon as you can, before Thursday afternoon if at all possible.
Thank you for taking a few minutes to express your support for Ohio's CCSS. Please share any feedback with ASA Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson: pierson@amstat.org.
Sincerely,
David Morganstein
2015 President, American Statistical Association
P.S. Please note that the ASA Board of Directors approved sending call-to-action emails to ASA members about urgent statistical and science policy issues being debated in Washington, DC, or state capitals in 2009. If you prefer to not receive these types of emails in the future, please email Steve Pierson.