Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Common Core Standards

Common Core Standards Position Paper
Laura Fortson-Williams

Assume for a moment that you are the teacher of a 3rd grade student whose family is in the military. This student comes to your classroom in December having already been in 2 other schools this year due to circumstances beyond his control. If the student is intelligent and studious, perhaps he will adjust well to his new curriculum. But if he isn’t, therein lie major concerns. For this reason (among others) The Common Core Standards were developed.
The Common Core Standards aim to provide commonality in curriculum among states. The mission statement reads, “The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.” (http://www.corestandards.org/). To date, all but 5 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the American Samoa Islands have adopted the Standards.
The standards were developed by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Teachers and administrators also took part in developing them as well. They are said to be evidence based, as well as clear and consistent.
The English Language Arts standards include reading comprehension skills, a sample of the types of Literature that may be used in a curriculum, writing logical arguments, research, academic discourse in various settings, vocabulary, media and technology.
The Math standards in grades K-5 aim to provide a solid foundation for later learning. Standards in the higher grades seek to prepare children for the study of Algebra and mathematical issues in the real world.
My opinion is that the most important benefit of a state having adopted these standards is that they are evidence based. Students' mastery of them leads to preparedness for higher education and the workforce. These standards have not been developed on the basis of a group of educators’ opinions, but with the intention of preparing American students for success in our ever increasing global economy. With these standards, the expectation for our students has been set high.
Unfortunately, using these standards is not all good. Critics of the standards do not feel that imposing new standards on states struggling with the demands of NCLB is beneficial. Other critics question whether “one size fits all” is applicable in the educational field. Nevertheless, the benefits remain. Commonality among states can only provide a true measure of success and failure. It will be up to the individual states to see that the standards are not only taught, but met with mastery.

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