Below is a copy of the article I wrote for the Fall 2015 Newsletter. With State testing approaching, I thought I would republish this, as it relates to our philosophy on the Common Core.
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Certainly, you have heard the recent debates over the
“Common Core.” This seems to be a
polarizing topic of discussion and one that sometimes finds those at each end
of the political spectrum on the same sideline.
I would like to take some time to share my thoughts in regards to this
topic. My opinion comes with 23 years of
experience as a teacher and administrator.
It also comes with a great deal of passion and purpose. I love working in the education field. I have an unbending desire to provide the
best, research-based, effective, instructional practices for all students. I rarely stop thinking and reading about this
work. It drives me.
Before we can have a debate about the Common Core, we must
understand just what the “Common Core” is.
The Common Core 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 decide how these
standards are to be achieved and are responsible for developing lesson plans
and instructional practices within the classroom. These Common Core Standards are evidence-based, aligned with
college and work expectations, and include rigorous content and application of
knowledge through higher order thinking skills.
They are also “benchmarked” to international standards to make sure our
students are competitive in an emerging global marketplace. Additionally, the standards are designed to
better prepare our students for college and careers beyond high school.
It
is my personal belief that the Common Core Standards are a drastic improvement
to any standards that have preceded them.
I would encourage everyone to read them and I would challenge anyone to
debate their merit. These standards are
exactly what schools need to help our students compete in the 21st
century in a globalized world.
So
what’s to debate? Here is where the
State Education Department got it wrong. First, teachers needed professional
development to understand how these standards would change their instructional
practices. The Common Core asks teachers
to teach in a way that many have never experienced. It would be like asking a surgeon to operate
on patients in a way she/he had never been trained for. Secondly, the State created Common Core
Assessments that were/are more challenging and more rigorous than previous State
assessments. These assessments (3-8 ELA
and Math) were then used to help determine the value of a teacher (higher
student scores = higher teacher scores).
The State Education Department is now requiring that half of a teacher’s
value (APPR or Annual Professional Performance Review) be determined by these
assessments. Creating such “high-stakes”
assessments puts a strain on both teachers and students to perform well and can cause an unhealthy environment for learning. Lastly, NYS sub-contracted with a company to
create “module” units to help teachers teach the new standards. These modules are teacher directed, scripted,
and a one size fits all units. This type
of instruction actually contradicts what the Common Core Standards ask teachers
to do. We do not subscribe to the
modules here at HCS.
It is our philosophy that the students must take on the
responsibility of the learning. What
they learn in school must be applicable to the real world and have
purpose. We believe in establishing
independent thinkers and seekers of knowledge.
We want to create an environment for academic discourse and
collaboration. We believe that this can
be done only through authentic, student driven learning. We also feel it is very important to increase
opportunities for leadership, creativity, innovation, resiliency and self-efficacy. We want our students to be self-directed,
self-reflective, responsible and appropriate decision makers. The Common Core Standards allow us to do
this. It’s the NYS mandates (APPR,
modules, high stakes) that are getting in the way of the Common Core being
something really good.
All of the decisions we make are carefully considered and
are always done so in the best interest of our students. We strongly feel that our current
instructional practices reflect the new Common Core Standards and will help our
students become college and career ready with 21st century
skills. Please don’t hesitate to express
your views with me on this subject. I
welcome any feedback that you may have and will seriously take into account
your suggestions.
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