Welcome to the New Age of Education: Common Core

Common Core State Standards (CCSS). have been in effect for roughly five years since the nation’s top school officials and the National Governors Association got together to establish standard skill levels for high school students in basic courses. To date, 45 states have already shifted the new Common Core State Standards for English and mathematics. These guidelines and quarterly curriculums are also complemented with a variety of standardize assessments. As sensible as this new educational initiative is, there has been numerous backlashes against the program. Politicians, educators, and parents have even gone to extremes to rally against common core claiming that the program is merely a political move rather than an educational one.

So what is Common Core?

The Common Core standards are designed to build upon the most advanced current millennial thinking. Their models and lessons transform educator’s lesson plans and classroom dynamics into more interactive and explanatory measures. This can be seen across a variety of subjects such as English, writing, mathematics, science, history, and the like.

Their objective is simple. They style and standards for Common Core is mean to create forward thinking and strategy in all students to better prepare them for success in college and in life. This college-ready push has become the focal point and theme for a majority of schools including elementary schools as well as secondary schools.

So what does the new Common Core Standards look like? What are their benefits?

First and foremost, the American public needs to recognize the lack of cohesiveness there was with education between states. Standards that were acceptable in one state could differ from that of another region’s. By implementing the nation under one system, we will be able to get accurate data that reflects a holistic view of the American education. This was a problem that was seen back in 2001 when Bush enacted the No Child Left Behind act. In addition, by implementing the nation under one system, students and families will have an easier time assimilating to the new school if they were to move between districts or states. Having this cohesiveness provides educators as well as administrators an advantage in sharing valuable content that can better prepare these future leaders for tomorrow.

As for the curriculum itself, the standards differentiate from subject-to-subject, but highlight the concept of higher order thinking and strategy for each and every class. Take for example mathematics. The standards lay out a solid foundation understanding the basics and building upon the foundation. This foundation includes whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. Taken together, these elements support a student’s ability to learn through new and innovative techniques. These techniques are then tested through stronger demanding conceptual mathematic problems that relate to real-world issues. Take for example percentages. Rather than seeing a simple math problem of taking 20% of a number, a student would be given a word problem that discusses a scenario where you would have to take 20% of a number such as at a mall or at dinner. Lastly, to make sure the students have truly internalized the concepts, the students will be asked to holistically explain how they arrived at each answer through a simple two-to-five sentence explanation.

Just like mathematics, courses such as Language Arts, reading, and writing build upon the concept of higher order thinking and methodical strategy. Rather than testing remedial and antiquated concepts that have been used for the past twenty maybe 30 years, Common Core forces educators to design appropriate lessons that goes beyond the simple retrieval questions and ask questions that forces the student to critically think and analytically write. These particular assignments are used to see how the student arrives at their answer by noting and citing textual evidence and outside resources. In addition, the standards push for a stronger use of informational text to expose children to new types of literature so that they can further enhance their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

To complement this type of style of teaching, teachers are asked to further aid their students through differentiated instructions. Differentiated instructions are the way in which a teacher anticipates the response to a variety of students needs in the classroom. To meet student’s needs, the teacher will break down the classroom into specific groups based on their strengths and weaknesses. This gives the students the opportunity to meet with the teacher on a one-on-one basis, while building their own foundation through independent work. While this may differ from teacher-to-teacher, as in scheduling differentiated instruction time in the classroom, the concept has show strong initiatives for student academic care.

As innovative as these standards are, they have had a variety of negative press from teachers, parents, professionals, and politicians alike who question the overall methods of the initiative. One of the biggest complaints is the inflexibility with the curriculum. The curriculum, as seen above, has many complex features that need to be fit in a 60 to 90 minute time frame (depending on the school schedule). Teachers believe that the inflexibility with the curriculum jeopardizes student learning and their careers if the students were to perform low on the national Common Core assessment. Parents have also spoke up about the Common Core curriculum being too exam heavy with phrases like “teaching for the test.” In addition, many viral social media photos have shown the aversion parents have to the new methods questioning if the methods provide their students with the most effective and efficient possible way to answer and solve problems. They respond with, “is it better to find the right answer a certain way, or the right answer the best way.”

While the debate on Common Core still continues, we can wholeheartedly agree that Common Core is a water droplet trying to substitute effective teaching. However, this new model of teaching has given strong opportunities for educators to improve their trade for our children’s futures.