Health & Fitness
So What Is All This Stuff About Common Core?
Schools throughout California and most of the nation will be providing a more consistent answer to that age-old question: “What did you learn in school today?”
The reason?
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There are new “Common Core” education standards.
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Education standards describe what students should know and be able to do. And the new Common Core standards update those expectations.
The big idea of Common Core is contained in the name: Common and Core.
Common—
For years and years, education standards varied state by state. A child in the third grade in Texas and a child in the third grade in New York and a child in the third grade in California had different educational expectations. And when a family moved….well…you guessed it…there was a problem.
Since 2010, 45 states have adopted essentially the same standards for English and math. This provides consistency especially if students change schools or move to a different state.
Core—
There are certain learning goals that all that children should strive to meet. Core standards set clear expectations for parents, teachers and students.
And equally important, these new standards now reflect not only basic skills but those critical thinking and higher-level skills that our children now need in a global economy:
· Creativity
· Innovation
· Problem Solving
· Collaboration
· Communication
What They Are Not
Standards are expectations of what students should know and be able to do. They do NOT define how teachers should teach.
These standards also attempt to target what is essential—moving away from the concern that our educational expectations were a mile wide and an inch deep.
Take A Look At Some Standards
While there has been growing political debate from both the left and the right on this change, one of the best ways to get a feel for Common Core standards is to take a look at what this means for kids in the classroom.
I am going to slice and dice this for you in two ways:
1. A look at one strand of a standard from Kindergarten through high school.
2. A simplified look at one grade level in English Language Arts
Reading Standards for Literature: A sample
The Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy have a number of components: reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Let’s take a look at the continuum in one area: Reading Standards for Literature: Key Ideas and Details. Here are the expectations at various grade levels:
Kindergarten- With prompting, ask and answer questions about key details in text.
Grade 2: Ask and answer such questions as who, what where when, why and how and demonstrate a key understanding of details in a text
Grade 5: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text
Grade 8: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports and analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
Grades 11-12: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves maters uncertain.
Now…Take A Look At Expectations For A Grade Level
Here is sample of some of the things first graders will be working on in language arts:
· Using phonics
· Describing characters and settings
· Writing about a topic
· Having conversations about topics
· Shared research and writing projects
· Identifying the correct meaning of words
·
Want More?
The California Department of Education provides a full list of standards in both English/language arts as well as math if you would like to take a closer look.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ssindex.asp
Resources for Parents from the PTA
Parents who want a slimmed down version, with suggestions on how to help your child, can find these on the California State PTA web site:
http://www.capta.org/sections/programs/e-standards.cfm