Governor Carcieri will travel to Washington D.C. Wednesday for a roundtable discussion with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the future of math and science education in this country.

The meeting will coincide with a release of a new report outlining specific ideas for improving academic curriculums, titled "The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy."

"Improving student performance in math and science continues to be a priority for my administration," Carcieri said in a statement today.

In addition to Duncan, the Washington discussion will feature national education leaders, representatives from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and from the Institute for Advanced Study Commission -- a group Carcieri was appointed to for the purpose of helping produce the new report.

The study largely focuses on creating common curriculum standards across district and state lines -- something Rhode Island has helped lead the way on though its involvement with the three-state testing collaborative known as the New England Common Assessment Program.

"It's about looking at how students in our state compare to those in other states. The only way to do that accurately is to have common core standards," Caricieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said Monday. "NECAP was one of the first to embrace that idea and is now part of a national dialogue."