Monday, October 18, 2010

Common Core Standards

Our nation is lagging behind other nations, such as India and China, when it comes to education. Reforms take place throughout the United States to try and improve our school systems. National and state standards are a way of setting educational goals to improve what our students are learning. Standards were created with the intention to clarify and raise expectations by providing a common set of expectations for all students. New Jersey State Board of Education adopted the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards in 1996. New Jersey’s standards were created to improve student achievement by clearly defining what all students should know and be able to do at the end of thirteen years of public education. When the Core Curriculum Content Standards were created, the State Board required that the standards be reviewed and revised every five years. Reviews began first in 2001, but updated standards were not released until 2004. Recently, in 2009, the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards were revised and released. The 2009 NJ Core Curriculum Standards appeal more to the 21st-century student and outcomes for students require a deeper understanding of academic content at a higher level than ever before.

Two subjects, Mathematics and Language Arts, were not revised under the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards. These subjects’ standards come from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and were adopted by majority of the country, including New Jersey. Each state has its own process for developing, adopting, and implementing standards. As a result, what students are expected to learn can vary widely from state to state. The CCSS are part of a state-led effort to give all students the skills and knowledge they need to succeed across the country. It is no surprise that Mathematics and Language Arts standards are nationwide since standardized testing mainly focuses on these two subjects.

In the education world, debates and arguments occur regularly. Educational standards are nothing different and unfortunately disagreements surround this topic as well. According to the CCSS website, educational standards are needed to ensure that all students are prepared for postsecondary education and the workforce and common standards allow for high quality consistency from school to school. In terms of CCSS, not just NJ Core Curriculum Standards, consistency is not just from school to school, but extends from state to state. This can be very beneficial to our nation’s students. With standards being normalized across the nation, every student is guaranteed to be taught solid knowledge of the most important topics. According to a report completed in June 2010 by EdSource, supporters assert that common standards will ensure that students have more opportunities upon graduating, make the county more competitive in the global economy, and allow states to learn from one another. In addition, CCSS supporters feel if states had the same core content standards, students moving from one state to another would have more consistency in their learning than is possible today. According to an article in NY Times, other supporters feel that financially strapped state governments do not have to spend limited resources on developing their own standards and tests.

Moving from state standards to national standards is an excellent way to create commonality and unity in our nation. However, those who disagree with national standards feel that each state should be responsible for the education of their students within their state. Mathematics and Language Arts are the first subjects to be nationally standard, but many feel this is just the beginning. Those who disagree with national standards argue that the states are losing control over education. According to a Massachusetts newspaper article, adoption of the federal standards will change what is taught and what is tested in public education. Some teachers will have to change everything they are use too.

In general terms, many teachers feel standards are needed within schools, but the standards have become too strict. Unfortunately, teachers feel they are losing creativity in the classroom because the standards have to be followed rigorously, especially with the subjects that appear on standardized tests.

Overall, this debate will not go away. Standards are needed in order to have structure. Teachers can not “blindly” teach and standards help with allowing teachers to understand what topics or areas are important for students to learn. The problem is teachers feel they are unable to teach what they want to teach. In my opinion, national standards are great way in ensuring that all of our nation’s students are gaining the same knowledge and similar education.

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