In the remaining 33 states, the Common Core standards were clearly superior to state standards in both math and English. The quality of standards is not the only determinant of educational progress, of course.
Independent Variable: An independent variable is the variable you have control over, what you can choose and manipulate. It is usually what you think will affect the dependent variable. In some cases, you may not be able to manipulate the independent variable. It may be something that is already there and is fixed, something you would like to evaluate with respect to how it affects something else, the dependent variable like color, kind, time.
Hypothesis. The activity levels of the mice will increase when tested at night, when the lights are off, when compared to during the day when the lights are on. Activity level is defined by number of rotations the mice do in a 10-minute period.