Add to this landscape powerful education reform initiatives such as overhauled teacher evaluation systems, new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and an increased focus on social and emotional learning.

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The News tablets will come loaded with material from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a K-12 curriculum developed by a broad coalition of education experts and supported by most states.

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The Common Core State Standards seek to align diverse state curricula in K-12 education in the US. Today each state defines their own standards, curricula and textbooks in an independent manner.

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Nearly every state in the U.S. is adopting some form of the standards, known as the Common Core State Standards, but New York is one of the first states testing students on the changed content.

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Mr. Johnson said he thought there were "serious problems" with the test, in large part because teachers are just beginning to learn the approach required under the new benchmarks, known nationally as the Common Core State Standards.

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While the new GED will incorporate tougher material by January 2014, the other two firms will begin slowly phasing in the new standards then, addressing worries from state officials that students won't have time to become familiar with harder questions designed to conform with the new academic benchmarks, the Common Core State Standards.

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Supporters say Common Core prepares students for college and for global competition better than earlier state standards.

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