The Fordham Foundation released their report, The State of State Standards 2006. Due to the low quality of most state standards, Fordham calls for national standards and tests.
Here is how North Carolina fared:
English-B
North Carolina’s English standards are almost there, almost among the top state standards documents in the nation. But they fall just short, and the first pitfall is their incoherent organizing scheme.
Mathematics-C
North Carolina’s recent revision of its standards proved to be a misstep. Formerly excellent, the state’s math standards are mediocre all around-reasonably clear, but with weak content coverage and a heavy emphasis on patterns, probability, and technology.
Science-B
The best part of North Carolina’s science standards is that, for most of the science content, the writers know the subjects they write about and they are able to introduce those subjects in grade-appropriate ways.
U.S. History-F
North Carolina’s standards’ most distressing problem, and there are many, is the sequencing of its U.S. history instruction. By design, North Carolina students are never taught the colonial period, the Revolution, or the ratification of the Constitution.
World History-F
The biggest problem with North Carolina’s world history standards–and it is a big problem–is that its sequencing and organization may do more to confuse students than enlighten them. Instead of presenting history chronologically, the Tar Heel State spends a lot of pages sequencing the standards by region.
Overall-C-
