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

  • University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Launches New Emergency Communications System

    The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) recently deployed a new emergency notification and incident management system for its campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with 911Cellular to launch Safe@UTC, a smartphone app allowing university officials to communicate and respond during emergency situations.

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.