Tackling Common Core

By:  Michael Duncan, Superintendent

 I have been asked many times about my opinion of the Common Core. My answer is usually guarded because the question is typically asked by those with hyper-partisan views who get their talking points from talk radio, but, honestly, I don’t have a big problem with it.  Common Core is much more rigorous, requiring greater levels of critical thinking, so from this perspective, it is a better curriculum. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot.  It’s too broad. Critics have argued it would take more than 20 years to teach the Common Core to deep levels of understanding; that is, the ability to apply knowledge and skills independently to real-life situations and solve real-world problems.

Recognizing the need to increase the level of rigor and develop 21^st Century Skills (critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration), we must find time to focus on depth of learning, not just coverage.  To this end, we are working to identify the most impactful curriculum standards and eliminate redundancy.  Our goal is to align the Common Core from kindergarten to twelfth grade, reducing the curriculum, hopefully, by 40%.  This will afford teachers and students the time to engage truly authentic intellectual work which require 21^st Century Skills.  The impact will be significant-more reading, more writing, and more thinking.  It’s really that simple.

The challenges ahead are clear:  creating processes whereby teachers can do the intellectually heavy lifting of evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum and instructional practices in light of student achievement data; investing in high quality textbooks (Yes, I said textbooks); and maintaining a laser-like focus on professional development in 21^st Century Skills.

What does this look like for students?  I know this is profound, but hang in there with me:  More reading, more writing, more thinking.

What is the Common Core?

by Kevin Huffstetler, Pike Elementary School Principal

The Common Core is an initiative by the United States Department of Education that seeks to align the curricula of the states into one unified set of learning guidlines.  These “guidelines,” which we call standards, establish consistent learning expectations for all students, no matter the state in which the student is educated.  This helps to ensure students receive the same rigor, concepts, and educational outcomes across the country.  The Common Core shifts the focus of education from memorization of rote facts to critical thinking and the application of knowledge.  Students are now required to not only know concepts, but apply them in a problem-solving context .  Each grade level builds on previously taught standards, so as a student moves from kindergarten to high school the student develops a deeper understanding of what they have been taught.

What does this mean for our students?  In years past, students were asked to memorize random facts without applying them.  For example, we memorized the Preamble to the United States Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, or the Bill of Rights.  In many cases, the learning stopped with the memorization.  Now, under the Common Core, students are required to think about how these documents are related, the actions that caused each documents’ creation, and how they still shape our society.  The same approach is applied to each content area, whether it is math, science, or English/ Language Arts. 

The Common Core serves as the basis of each state’s curricula.  States have the freedom to add to the standards to create a unique set of learning outcomes for their state, such as Georgia History.  Individual school districts can add to the curriculum to support local initiatives, such as how the history, landscape and geographic location of Pike County dictate the career choices of residents.

 

Some major changes with the implementation of the Common Core:

·         Increase in Career Awareness by applying skills needed to be successful after high school;

·         Increase in writing across the curriculum;

·         Increase in rigor, or depth of understanding;

·         Increase in expectation of student communication goals;

·         Changing the make-up of state tests.