Common Core standards

The Riverhead school district trailed the state average by a wide margin in the controversial assessment tests. About 42 percent of eligible students refused to take the tests this spring.

A task force appointed by the governor to review the Common Core standards in response to the outcry by parents and educators has issued its report faulting the way the state implemented the new standards and offering 21 recommendations for action, including using Common Core-aligned assessments as advisory only until 2019-2020.