Education Department Joins National Standards Group

The Vermont Department of Education is joining 30 other states in an effort to create national standards to measure what students know.

Vermont and the other states are asking for millions of dollars in federal grant money to develop the program that will allow the states to use a common set of standards in math and English.

The Rutland Herald says the grant could be worth as much as $160 million for all the states.

Currently, Vermont uses the same assessment package as Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

The plan calls for all 31 states to adopt the common standards by the end of 2011.

The Vermont Education Department's Michael Hock says sharing the costs of the assessment with other states should save Vermont money.