Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/669580
A P O S I T I V E I M P A C T O N S T U D E N T S Overall, concludes WestEd, educators value the rigor of California's new standards and believe they will positively impact students. Stacie Ryan, a third-grade teacher at Anna Kyle Elementary School in Fairfield who helped with the rollout in her district, thinks successful implementation is tied to teachers' approach and input. "I think some people miss not having to think about a lesson plan and opening up a book and saying 'I'll teach this page today,'" she says. "But the Common Core is giving us a new freedom to challenge students so they can express themselves in new ways." During a recent Educator visit, she tells students to go "toy shopping" for a hypothetical kindergartner with their iPads. They must visit the Toys "R" Us website, read reviews about toys they select, and also consider hazards such as choking. They must be prepared to defend the educational value of their selec- tions. They must calculate the cost of their purchases and round numbers to the ones, tens and hundreds place. The assignment includes creating a "graphic representation" of items and cost. Ryan designed the math lesson herself, and is pleased to see students dive right in. She knows her and other educators' input is key to helping students learn the new standards. "The Common Core is similar to making a pie or a Thanksgiving dinner," muses the Fairfield-Suisun Unified Teachers Association member. "Sometimes it's a bit messy and you may not have all the ingredients you need. But in the end it's totally worth it." C O L L A B O R A T I O N I S C R U C I A L Pia VanMeter recalls that schools that had teacher ambas- sadors working collaboratively with the district moved forward. Staff in schools without ambassadors were at times confused about their direction. "Our union went into negotiations and asked to have a seat at the table for Common Core implementation," says the Riverside City Teachers Association member. "We wanted to be part of the conversation because we were frustrated at how the district was rolling out Common Core." Once her chapter became part of the process, teachers were given collaboration time and a comprehensive plan was put into place. Today, she says, implementation is better at the elementary level than high school, prob- ably due to earlier implementation. ELA is going more smoothly than math, which might be due to more radical changes in math standards. Under the new math standards, secondary schools have two choices: They can separate algebra, geom- etry and upper-division math courses — or create "integrated" classes of these subjects at Level 1 and Level 2. Her district opted for the latter, with curriculum created by teachers on special assignment (TOSAs). TOSAs usually delivered curriculum the same day it was taught, with no time for tweaking or collaboration. But things are smoother this year. Teachers in subjects such as English and science initially were reluctant to incorporate other subjects' standards into their assignments. But they have worked things out through collaboration. For example, a history assignment may be interconnected with research methodology from science intertwined with ELA standards for reports. "It's been a learning curve, but I really like it," says VanMeter. "In an English learner biology class, for exam- ple, instead of lecturing about scientific method, I used a poem from 1817 about six blind people observing an elephant. The kids had a discussion on how observation applies to science. That kind of cross-curricular collabora- tion is just phenomenal." 28 cta.org Anna Kyle Elementary School's Stacie Ryan, at right with student Princess Taylor, says the Common Core is giving teachers new freedom to challenge students and help them learn.