Common Core: What it Means at HCS

Dear Parents and Community Members,

In 2010 New York State, along with 45 other states, adopted the Federal Government's new Common Core Learning Standards.  I’d like to take this opportunity to explain what they are, what they mean for our students and how they affect the learning in your child’s classroom.  

Educational Standards are a clear set of shared goals and expectations designed to help teachers understand the knowledge, skills and procedures students need to succeed.  Teachers and administrators at the local level still decide how these standards are to be achieved and are responsible for developing lesson plans and instructional practices within the

Although the initiative for a “common set” of standards came from the Federal Government, these standards have been designed by administrators, teachers and educational leaders from states across the country.  The Common Core State Standards have been built from the best and highest state standards in the country. They are evidence-based, aligned with college and work expectations, and include rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher order thinking skills.  The designers also looked at high performing countries and “benchmarked” them to international standards to make sure our students will be competitive in the emerging global marketplace.   Additionally, the new standards were designed to better prepare our students for college and careers beyond high school.

Hamilton Central School has embraced these standards and feel that we are well prepared for them.  Over the past nine years we have spent our professional development days designing our instruction to meet the demands of higher level thinking for our students.  The Common Core Standards align perfectly with our instructional practices.  New York State Education Department has developed a web-site to help teachers and parents learn more about what the standards mean.  I encourage all of you to visit this site <engageny.org> to learn more.  Included in the site are informative videos that detail six shifts in both English Language Arts and Math that will help all of us learn about the impact of the Common Core State Standards.  You can also access the standards through <nysed.gov>.  Our teachers have spent many hours redesigning our curriculum to match these standards.  HCS Elementary curriculum maps are posted on the our web-site for parents to see.  

We talk a lot about pedagogy of our teachers and what it means in regards to instruction.  Recently, a parent asked me to explain what “pedagogy” means here at Hamilton.  The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards defines pedagogy as follows:

“Pedagogy refers to the pedagogical (teaching) skills teachers use to impart the specialized knowledge/content of their subject area(s). Effective teachers display a wide range of skills and abilities that lead to creating a learning environment where all students feel comfortable and are sure that they can succeed both academically and personally. This complex combination of skills and abilities is integrated in the professional teaching standards that also include essential knowledge, dispositions, and commitments that allow educators to practice at a high level.”

Simply put pedagogy refers to the “art” of teaching.  I would add to this definition as it applies to teaching here at Hamilton.  It also includes having students grow from a sense of dependency of learning from the instructor to independency or self-directedness.  We call this a “gradual release of responsibility.”  Students also accumulate a reservoir of experiences that can be used as a basis on which to build learning across content, grade level, and the walls of the classroom.  This can only be achieved through highly qualified, evidence based professional development and an acceptance by educators to be life-long learners.  We are committed to this endeavor and will always strive to provide our students with the best “pedagogical” practices.  I invite all of you to spend time in your child’s classroom to learn more about the pedagogy in our school.