Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/315828
Carrie Forrest felt panicky about the new education standards. It hasn't been a walk in the park, but she thinks the CCSS offer new opportunities to be creative in the classroom. fear," says the United Teachers of Richmond member and CTA Board mem- ber. Even with collaboration, it's tough not having core-aligned textbooks and materials. "It's scary and time-consuming for teachers to put aside our everyday curriculum in math and create our own materials from what we learned in our training and what's on the Internet," she adds. Felipe Lemus fi nds mixed results with the CCSS lessons fashioned from online supplemental materials. "One lesson went really well on reading comprehension," he recalls. "I had students collaborating together in groups, helping each other with word recognition and b l e n d i n g . T h e y ex p l a i n e d t h e i r a n s we rs a n d couldn't just copy from a book. The kids were energetic and successful." Another lesson did not go as well, and Lemus believes it's partly because his students are so used to rote memorization, they are resistant to exploring concepts and problem-solving in math. "Right now, they just want the answers. But with the new standards, we teach them to think." Lemus is doing plenty of thinking these days himself, wondering if his new lessons are really teaching to the new standards. Vogel says teachers he visits are constantly expressing that same concern, since the Common Core is about standards, not curriculum. It's like the "old days" before NCLB, when teachers came up with their own lessons, resources and assignments, and were allowed to use their professional judg- ment to decide how something should be taught. For teachers overwhelmed from having so much freedom, the Common Core will get easier in time, says Vogel, but that means teachers must be part of the process. Change can't be top-down Some districts are trying to impose control on the new standards with pacing guides and top-down mandates just like they did under the old standards and accountability system, which defeats the purpose of CCSS. "In Fresno, implementation has been a largely top-down affair," says Ebrahim. "The same people who were true believers in explicit direct instruction and pacing charts are now in charge of implementing the Com- mon Core. There has been confusion. I fear that if there is not a true shift in the core beliefs of our district leadership, the Common Core will live on clipboards, not in classrooms." He says teachers deserve a place at the table — and need to create one quickly if they haven't done so. "I think the transition has created an important window of time for teachers to organize and assert our voice in determining what the next decade of education is going to look like in California. If we don't step up, we'll be left out." Research shows that teachers want to be consulted and involved in their schools' implementation plans. However, just 46 percent of CTA members in California say they have been given the opportunity to give feedback on "We are pulling together," says Terri Jackson. Even with collaboration, it's tough not having core- aligned textbooks and materials. 15 www.cta.org M AY 2 0 1 4 Educator 05 May 2014 v1.6 int.indd 15 5/16/14 3:21 PM