Right, he is conflating standardized testing with Common Core, a set of K-12 standards. One didn't "become" the other. It's possible to have unified standards w

Right, he is conflating standardized testing with Common Core, a set of K-12 standards. One didn't "become" the other. It's possible to have unified standards without high-stakes testing. K-12 standardized testing grew dramatically in recent years, notably as a result of NCLB in 2001. Throughout most of this time, each state had its own high-stakes, standardized, highly redundant tests and its own curriculum for preparing for them. (Many states followed the lead of California, Texas, or Florida -- the "adoption states." Some cities, like Chicago, had their own standards. It was a mess.) A bunch of states then got together and agreed on a common curriculum framework. Shortly thereafter, in 2009, the Dept. of Ed. rolled out "Race to the Top," which (among other things) encourages the adoption of _a_ common set of standards but doesn't specify any particular one. In his 2008 example, the principal referred to the situation as a "standardized, nationwide test." The only one I am aware of for grade school is the NAEP, which has been around since 1969 and is not tied to funding or related to the state-specific standardized testing. More: https://www.nagb.org/toolbar/faqs.html https://www.nagb.org/toolbar/faqs.html The math methods used in Common Core go back a while: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-stink-at-math.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-... Some specific history of the Common Core: http://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/articles/2014/02/27/the-history-of-common-core-state-standards http://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/articles/2014/02/...