Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Education Policy Center at AIR Releases an Issue Brief Calling for Rigorous Student Performance Standards

  • 02/12/15

Washington, D.C. – The Education Policy Center at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) has released an issue brief citing the need for state policymakers to consider setting rigorous student performance standards to measure academic success and not focus primarily on content standards for teaching materials.

As the debate over Common Core State Standards intensifies, Aiming High: Setting Performance Standards for Student Success notes that, “Although the movement to adopt rigorous education content standards is evidence that states are motivated to raise academic expectations, current performance standards do not give accurate measures of student achievement. Without rigorous content and performance standards, we cannot adequately prepare students for the global marketplace.”

The issue brief cites a 2014 AIR study, International Benchmarking: State and National Education Performance Standards, which found that state performance standards vary widely, with many of them set low. Students in states with the lowest standards performed three to four grades levels below their peers in states with higher standards.

“If states adopt rigorous content standards but retain low performance standards, the number of students identified as “proficient” will give a false picture of the nation’s progress toward educational excellence in the global marketplace,” says the new brief written by Gary Phillips, an AIR vice president Institute Fellow, and Alicia Garcia, a senior researcher.

“States should use evidence-based methods of standard setting, such as the benchmark method, to create and adopt rigorous performance standards that prepare students to compete in the global marketplace,” the authors said.

About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.

Featured

  • UPenn Announces Completion of New Veterinary Education Facility

    The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Penn., recently finished construction on an 11,800-square-foot veterinary education building, according to a news release. The Gail P. Riepe Center for Advanced Veterinary Education is the first dedicated classroom facility at the New Bolton Center, a large-animal hospital and campus about 35 miles west of the campus proper.

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.

  • Montclair State University Debuts New VR Facility

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently announced the completion of a new virtual reality learning facility developed in partnership with Dreamscape Learn, according to a news release. The 2,450-square-foot lab space is inside the College of Communication and Media building and will serve students pursuing careers in digital media, virtual reality, and content creation.

  • Tomball ISD Opens New Tomball West High School

    Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas, recently celebrated the official opening of Tomball West High School, the district's third comprehensive high school, with a community ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a district news release.