Kathleen Martin - Smith : People ask about violations of academic standards like Common Core . Porter - Magee : Standards and testing have resulted in big gains in academic achievement . Common Core represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically increase the rigor of standards , upgrade the tests and accountability systems , and make make necessary mid-course corrections to curricula , instruction , and standards implementation . She says Common Core is a game - piece in making expectations more rigorous . This is a once - in - a - generation opportunity to pull students up to standards , she says .
Kathleen Martin - Smith : People ask about violations of academic standards like Common Core . Porter - Magee : Standards and testing have resulted in big gains in academic achievement . She says Common Core is a game - piece in making expectations more rigorous . This is a once - in - a - generation opportunity to pull students up to standards , she says .