Brookings Today, 4/25/14

A roundup of some of the content published today by Brookings.

• Do Common Core standards matter? Tom Loveless explains what Common Core is, why it’s becoming controversial and whether standards can boost student achievement. 

• Brazil’s rise. Harold Trinkunas documents Brazil’s attempts to rise historically and in the present.

• The Schuette decision on affirmative action. Richard Lempert reviews the Supreme Court’s decision in the Schuette case, which upheld the right of Michigan’s citizens to ban race-conscious admissions at the state’s colleges and universities .

• The Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Khaled Elgindy argues that American and Israeli hostility to the new Palestinian reconciliation between the PLO and Hamas is misguided.

• Getting smarter about smart cities. Adie Tomer and Rob Puentes take a look at what cities need to do to become “smart” cities.