My column this week is about the Common Core State Standards, a state-led initiative that has created national standards in English language arts and math for all participating states. Arkansas is one of 41 states that have signed on to the Common Core, plus the District of Columbia.

The Common Core is meant to ensure that students in Arkansas learn something close to the same material as students in Louisiana because in our mobile society, it’s entirely possible that they might live there. The reverse certainly was true after Hurricane Katrina, when Arkansas was inundated with students from New Orleans who might as well have come from a foreign country.

The standards are also more focused than what is currently taught. The current state of education is a mile wide and an inch deep – students cover a lot but don’t learn enough. Common Core seeks to address that.

I think it’s a good thing. Here’s the column.