Since the beginning of this school year, you may have heard the term "Common Core Standards" sprinkled into conversations with teachers and school folks as if this were some universally known idea. You may even have caught a glimpse of a headline in the newspaper you don't have time to read these days because you are too busy making lunches and sorting socks in the laundry pile. (I'm assuming noone is reading this blog, actually.) You have probably wondered what exactly Common Core Standards means, but didn't have the time, attention span or confidence to ask an educator to clarify. Well, wonder no more.
Common Core Standards refers to a set of Reading and Math standards adopted by 45 of 50 states "to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce." Standards refers to the learning goals set for students -- what they are expected to know and be able to do as a result of their schooling.
The Common Core Initiative was led by a group of state governments that recognized the usefulness of nationally aligned standards. Proponents say that the new standards are more rigorous and more focused on critical thinking skills. They were developed using international benchmarks, as well as the "best in our country" as guidelines in order to "prepare our children for college and the work force." Whether you live in Alabama, Massachusetts, or Illinois, the curriculum will be based on the same set of standards for a more consistent American education that prepares our students for college or the workforce in a global economy.
Will this change what your child experiences at school every day? That depends. Standards define expected outcomes, but schools’ curriculum (what is taught) and instruction (how it is taught) will still be chosen and implemented by individual districts, principals, and teachers.
The federal No Child Left Behind law mandated that schools continually increase the percentage of their students who “meet or exceed standards,” but left it to the states to define those standards for themselves. The federal government also left it to the states to develop their own assessment tests (like the ISAT test in Illinois) based on their own standards. This made it difficult to compare either curriculum or test scores across states. Critics of the law say that it also created incentives for states to “dumb down” their standards in order to report a higher percentage of students as passing, as they aimed at the unrealistic goals of No Child Left Behind.
The Common Core Initiative was led by a group of state governments that recognized the usefulness of nationally aligned standards. Proponents say that the new standards are more rigorous and more focused on critical thinking skills. They were developed using international benchmarks, as well as the "best in our country" as guidelines in order to "prepare our children for college and the work force." Whether you live in Alabama, Massachusetts, or Illinois, the curriculum will be based on the same set of standards for a more consistent American education that prepares our students for college or the workforce in a global economy.
Because adoption of the Common Core Standards is voluntary, states are also free to either develop their own assessments (tests), or to use a test developed by one of two consortia associated with the Common Core Initiative. Illinois will use one of these tests, known as PARCC, beginning in the 2014-15 school year.
This report gives a good picture of how your child's school might seem different because of the change. Could it be that we are finally past the burdens of NCLB and the basic-skills-based curriculum that had a generation of kids learning to fill in bubbles instead of think critically??
Berwyn schools have adopted the Common Core standards and your child's learning will be impacted, so it’s worth thinking about how you want your child to be engaged in the work of meeting the new standards. The next time you hear the term "Common Core Standards" when talking to your child's teacher or principal, speak with confidence about your wishes for your child's education. Ask about critical thinking skills, rich literature, international math benchmarks and writing research papers or logical arguments. Are these evident in your child's classroom? They should be! Read up on the Common Core Standards before your child's fall Parent Teacher Conferences.
Berwyn schools have adopted the Common Core standards and your child's learning will be impacted, so it’s worth thinking about how you want your child to be engaged in the work of meeting the new standards. The next time you hear the term "Common Core Standards" when talking to your child's teacher or principal, speak with confidence about your wishes for your child's education. Ask about critical thinking skills, rich literature, international math benchmarks and writing research papers or logical arguments. Are these evident in your child's classroom? They should be! Read up on the Common Core Standards before your child's fall Parent Teacher Conferences.
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