Six Education Stories To Watch in 2015

As the senior member of the NPR Ed team with 25 years on the education beat, here are the top stories that my expert sources and I believe will be ones to watch in 2015. For more predictions, check out our crowdsourced list.

1. Standardized Testing Under Fire

The concern about too much testing really took off in 2014 and it's likely to grow, with more organized opposition at the local, state and national levels. The new tests tied to the Common Core, developed by the federally funded consortia, PARCC and Smarter Balanced, will continue to be targets. A moratorium, like the one teachers' unions have called for, will gather steam.

Two unlikely allies of the testing slowdown could be Bill Gates, who's already on the record calling for a reduction in testing, And education secretary Arne Duncan, who has said that too much testing is hurting a much-needed consensus on how to improve schools.

Teachers and their unions have blamed Duncan for pushing high stakes testing with little or no evidence that it improves instruction or truly measures teachers' or students' performance.

2. More Troubles For The Common Core

More (Republican-led) legislatures will call for long, drawn-out reviews, or the outright repeal, of the Common Core State Standards. Some states may simply "re-brand" the core to satisfy opposition groups, while adopting almost identical standards.

Still, in most states, the implementation of the Common Core will continue. And the more it guides instruction, the harder it will be for opponents to get rid of it completely.

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