David Coleman to Lead College Board David Coleman says the College Board's mission goes beyond measuring and testing to "designing high-quality curriculum." David Coleman, an architect of the common core curriculum standards that are being adopted in nearly all 50 states, will become the president of the College Board, starting in October. The College Board, a membership organization of high schools and colleges that administers the SAT, the Advanced Placement program and other standardized tests, helped design the standards - an outline of what students should learn in English and math from kindergarten through high school - meant to ensure that all high school graduates are prepared for college. Mr. Coleman's new position will involve a continued focus on college readiness. "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," he said in an interview on Tuesday. The College Board is not just about measuring and testing, but designing high-quality curriculum. For the last year, Mr. Coleman, 42, a former Rhodes scholar and McKinsey & Company consultant, has been barnstorming the nation, speaking to thousands of teachers to explain and promote the standards. He will succeed Gaston Caperton, who last year announced his plans to step down. Mr. Caperton came under some criticism for his salary of $1.3 million; Mr. Coleman will earn a base of $550,000, with total compensation of nearly $750,000. "David is innovative and an excellent choice for the College Board," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. He's put the common core on the map and he's very respectful of the teacher voice. Many other leading education figures, including Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, also endorsed the appointment. Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, said, "David is one of the true creative geniuses in the ed reform world, one of the brightest, most engaging and most persistent people in the field." While full adoption of the standards is uncertain - and the possibility that all states would agree to use the same tests and passing scores a distant fantasy - the advent of common standards could someday make college admission tests like the SAT almost irrelevant. And some education experts say that possibility, even far down the road, has helped spur the College Board's growing emphasis on its Advanced Placement program. In the interview, Mr. Coleman spoke far more of the AP program than of any other aspect of the College Board's work. "The College Board should consider any student in an AP class a student in our care," said Mr. Coleman, a co-founder at Student Achievement Partners, a nonprofit organization that promotes the common core. We need to find better ways to support their success. Robert Scott, the Texas commissioner of education whose state is one of a handful that has not adopted the common core, said he thinks highly of Mr. Coleman, and shares his educational goals - but not the desire for national standards. "Texas law requires curriculum decisions to involve teachers, parents and other members of the community, and you can't do that if you're adopting standards developed somewhere else," Mr. Scott said. Mr. Coleman and the standards have other critics, too. "There's no reason on earth for common core standards and these tests that we're wasting billions of dollars on," said Stephen Krashen, an emeritus education professor at the University of Southern California. The problem is poverty, poverty, poverty. Middle-class children who go to well-funded schools do very well, but even the best tests, the most inspiring teachers, won't mean anything if the kids don't have enough to eat. In progressive education circles, Mr. Coleman is often criticized for his emphasis on "informational texts" over fiction, and his push for students to write fewer personal and opinion pieces. Last year, he gave a speech making that point in strong terms, asserting that it would be rare, in the working world, for someone to say, "Johnson, I need a market analysis by Friday, but before that I need a compelling account of your childhood." Reaction on education blogs was explosive. On Tuesday, Mr. Coleman said he should have chosen his language more carefully, emphasizing that he was talking about older students. Over all, Mr. Coleman said, there is widespread enthusiasm for the standards. "The degree of consensus is remarkable," he said. I think a lot of my success has been my ability to work with teachers.