David Coleman, a leader in the common core curriculum standards movement, has been seleced to become the president of the College Board, starting this October. Coleman will succeed Gaston Caperton, a former governor of West Virginia, in the position.
The College Board, a membership organization largely consisting of high schools and colleges that oversee the SAT, the Advanced Placement program and other standard high school testing, has helped shape the standards. The standards, which outline what students should learn in English and math from kindergarten through high school, are being adopted by all 50 states to ensure that U.S. high school graduates are prepared for college.
”We have a crisis in education, and over the next few years, the main thing on the College Board’s agenda is to deliver its social mission,” Coleman told the New York Times during an interview on Tuesday. ”The College Board is not just about measuring and testing, but designing high-quality curriculum.”
In recent months, Coleman, a 42-year-old former Rhodes scholar and McKinsey & Company consultant, has traveled throughout the nation, speaking to K-12 teachers to advocate for the standards.
”David is innovative and an excellent choice for the College Board,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers told the New York Times. ”He’s put the common core on the map and he’s very respectful of the teacher voice.”
Other leading education figures, including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, have endorsed Coleman’s appointment, according to the New York Times.
