Common Core Standards

Common Core Standards

The National Education Association in its article, 5 facts: Making Sense of the Common Core, details the ways in which the Common will mark a beneficial change in American education. Before this investigation, I only knew that Common Core was an attempt by the American educational system to re-do the educational standards and begin to effect meaningful change. However I must confess, my knowledge besides that was rather limited. In this five facts article Cindy Long breaks the Common Core down into five essential facts, but we could just as soon call them tenant. The five facts according to Long are (Long 2016):

1. They Will Deepen Problem-Solving Skills and Critical Thinking
2. They Promote Greater Opportunity for All Kids
3. They Bring Back Flexibility and Creativity
4. They Call for Collaborative Decisions
5. Implementation is the Key to Success

The fact that Common Core standards are attempting to address the same issues others have called the challenges of the 21st century learn seems by promoting problem solving, flexibility, and creativity seems entirely positive. Furthermore, moving away from previous policies emphasis on testing and teaching to the test also seems like a step in the right direction (C. The standards seems to be setting a system that is opening up the possibility for teaching and learning, rather than limiting them or constraining them to merely meeting the standards of testing. This renewed emphasis on standards, teaching and learning, and real skills that have applications in careers, education and life is an improvement to the educational system in the US.

This initial article also differentiates Common from previous acts such as NCLB, which emphasized testing and produced an educational model in which teachers and schools were teaching to the test.  

The added emphasis of creating a standard that promotes equity while allowing for collaboration (with teachers, parents, students, and communities) shows that this is a flexible framework aimed at real reform in the educational systems in the US.

The CCSO site refers to the Common Core Standards as (CCSO 2016) "Common Core [as an] ambitious reform ...  [with] transformational potential to significantly improve student outcomes and equity for all students."

The Core Standards site outlines the Common Core standards as follows:

1. Research and evidence based
2. Clear, understandable, and consistent
3. Aligned with college and career expectations
4. Based on rigorous content and the application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skills
5. Built upon the strengths and lessons of current state standards
6. Informed by other top-performing countries to prepare all students for success in our global economy and society

Each of these six points further contributes to the CCSO's statement that these standards are not just educational benchmarks, but truly a reform aimed at making students competitive in an increasingly changing and global world. The emphasis on research and accessibility with real world applications fits in with the greater concept of the 21st century learning.

Further examination shows that this is not just empty rhetoric, but the standards are in fact a detailed and dynamic framework that integrate multiple subjects into previously isolated ones. For example according to the Core Standards English Language Arts standards site (English Language Arts Standards 2016):

The Common Core asks students to read stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies. Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life.

The common core is creating a standard which is flexible, allows for the integration of subjects, and "stresses" the development of critical-thinking, problem solving, and analysis as integral parts of Language arts. This shows that the standards are in fact dynamic and focused on creating reform that is truly ambitious. There is also space for the students to reflect and inquire within this framework. The site further outlines how the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening have been developed as "anchor standards" in the core subject of English Language Arts as well as supplemental literacy standards in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. The designers of the Common Core have a parallel in Vygotsky who noted that (Vygotsky 1978) "that language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural activities like reading and writing."

In an article about project learning on the American Federation of Teachers, Nell K. Duke writes:

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, one of the anchor standards for reading calls for students to “integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words,” as students are likely to do in projects.

As a teacher, who teaches both language arts and visual arts, this is actually exciting to read. Not only are these standards well suited to project learning as Nell points, but they also incorporate a variety of learning styles and intelligences. Rather than isolating the skill set into a narrow subject, language arts becomes a malleable set of skills with far reaching applications, able to be translated into a variety of forms and uses.

Works Cited

Long, C. (n.d.). 5 Facts: Making Common Sense of the Common Core. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.nea.org/home/56587.htm

CCSO (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Publications/Teaching_to_the_Core_Integrating_Implementation_of_Common_Core_and_Teacher_Effectiveness_Policies.html

English Language Arts Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society:  The development of higher psychological processes.  Cambridge, MA.:  Harvard University Press.

Duke, N. K. (n.d.). Project-Based Instruction. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.aft.org/ae/fall2016/duke