In the meantime, states are implementing the common core standards because they are convinced that it is in their best interest, and in the interest of the nation as a whole, for young people to develop the knowledge and
skills the standards embody.
The current reform model, as it has evolved over the past twenty years, is based on the curriculum
standards embodied in the Texas Essential Knowledge and
Skills (TEKS) document adopted in 1997, on which the entire edifice is built — the curriculum, the assessments, the teacher preparation, and the incentive system.