The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers have released the first official public draft of their K-12 standards as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

The standards are expected to be finalized in early spring. The NGA Center and CCSSO encourage those interested in the standards to provide further feedback by April 2 at www.corestandards.org, where the draft standards are also available.

The initiative is a process being led by governors and chief state school officers in 51 states, territories, and the District of Columbia.†The draft standards were developed together with teachers, school administrators and experts. Common Core Standards are expected to be a condition for future federal funding.

The standards aim to define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 years, so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs.

The standards include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills, and are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in a global economy.