Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/20186
Q&a Common Core standards in math, English language arts, and literacy in history/social studies, science and technical subjects for K-12 students. CTA members, who were enjoying their summer vacations when all this took place, have lots of questions. For answers, we turned to I CTA member Kathy Harris, who served on the California Academic Content Standards Commission. She has been an educator for 25 years, teaches third-graders at Olivet Elemen- tary School, and is a member of the Piner-Olivet Educators As- sociation. We also enlisted the help of fellow commission member Pat Sabo, a teacher for 34 years and member of the Healdsburg Area Teachers Association, who teaches eighth-grade algebra at Healds- burg Junior High. They are two of 11 CTA members serving on the commission, which also in- cludes administrators, univer- sity faculty, school board members, and a few holdovers from the original committee that first adopted state stan- dards in 1997. CALIFORNIA EDUCATOR: We already had world-class standards. Why do we need new ones? Currently our standards are very broad, with lots of skills kids are supposed to master and be tested on. The new Common Core standards will 32 n August, California joined 33 states and the District of Columbia in approving new How will the new Common Core State Standards impact teachers? allow us to go deeper with in- struction because there are fewer standards. They are also clearer and higher standards. A great deal of research has been done since our standards were adopted, especially regarding language development and comprehension. None of that is reflected in our current state standards, but much current research is reflected in the Common Core standards. In the new standards, we have in- corporated research about what actually improves teaching and learning. Did Race to the Top (RTTT) cause the new standards? The National Governors As- sociation and the Council of Chief State Schools Officers, the two groups instrumental in making this happen, got togeth- er before RTTT was even conceived. The Obama admin- istration saw the Common Core standards as a good thing and picked it up as requirement of RTTT and attached a timeline, which turned out to be very challenging for California and other states. What does “Common Core” mean? It means there are common anchor standards that go across grade levels. It’s part of having fewer standards. These core standards span grade levels K-12 — and anchor the grade level specific standards. States were told that if they adopted the Common Core standards, they should comprise at least 30 California Educator | SEPTEMBER 2010 NOVEMBER 2009 85 percent of a state’s standards in math and English. Califor- nia’s interpretation was to adopt 100 percent of the Com- mon Core standards and add on another 15 percent, instead of taking anything away. Are the new standards going to be drastically different than the exist- ing ones? The developers of the Com- mon Core standards include some of the same people who de- veloped the California standards, and they used California’s stan- dards as the foundational piece. So the Common Core standards should look very familiar to Cal- ifornia teachers, although there will be differences — especially more emphasis on comprehen- sion. There are also some brand- new components. So there will be new curriculum, new materi- als and professional develop- ment, but it’s not going to be a whole new world. Teachers will likely be pleased and relieved at the way that the expectations are more appropriate to children’s development. When will the Common Core standards take effect? Implementation should occur in the 2011-12 school year. The actual timeline will depend on actions by the Legislature to au- thorize and fund the implemen- tation. Two consortiums are looking at assessments that will go along with Common Core standards, and then states will be using common assessments. Teachers can look at the Com- mon Core standards now and begin tweaking their instruction at www.scoe.net/castandards. Should teachers be worried about having to teach to new standards? Teachers should be able to get the support, information and professional development they will need for the new stan- dards. The state’s goal is that the transition will occur in a thoughtful and thorough way. We can’t do this in a vacuum; we can’t just publish standards and think people will under- stand all it entails. Is anything lacking in the new Common Core standards? One thing that is not present in the Common Core is any- thing specific for English learn- ers. When the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted the Common Core, there was a lot of public testimony from people who wanted to make sure that the English language develop- ment standards in California were immediately reviewed and aligned to Common Core to meet the needs of English learn- ers. The SBE heard that loud and clear, so that will be one of their goals. When will schools need to get new textbooks and other materials? A timeline will be developed by the California Department of Education and submitted to the SBE for approval to make sure new pieces get implemented in