Depending on who you ask, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are either a step forward in creating a clearer and more consistent education framework for our kids…or complete insanity. Here's what parents need to know about the Common Core and how we can help our kids in this unfamiliar learning environment.
What the [Bleep] Is the Common Core?
In a nutshell, the Common Core State Standards are a set of learning goals currently adopted by 43 states, specifying exactly what students should know and be able to do at each grade level for math and English language arts, from Kindergarten through 12th grade. These are concrete, measurable goals such as "support a point of view with reasons" and "apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction by a whole number." Sounds like your everyday education-ese, right? It's actually an entire overhaul of our education system.
A brief history lesson: The precursor to CCSS is the No Child Left Behind Act from 2002. It required states to administer standardized tests to all students at select grade levels and show "adequate yearly progress" in test scores in order to get federal funding. As a result, states' use of mandated standardized tests increased as a way to gauge students' progress. (Get out your number 2 pencils, kids!) But even with teachers teaching to the test, the results were mixed, if not a flop. After that, the Race to the Top initiative further promoted standardized testing, having states and school districts evaluate teachers in part by their students' test scores.
The Common Core State Standards is meant to shift the focus, seeking to give states more test flexibility and emphasize higher-level thinking skills—while still holding schools and especially teachers accountable for their students' progress. Here's the intention:
Sounds good, right?
A Step in the Right Direction
It's hard to argue with the Common Core's goals of raising academic standards and preparing our kids for college and the workforce—or its philosophy of emphasizing critical thinking (how you problem solve, rather than what you memorized). Who wouldn't support more consistent standards that are, according to the Common Core State Standards Initiative:
Research- and evidence-based
Clear, understandable, and consistent
Aligned with college and career expectations
Based on rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skills
Built upon the strengths and lessons of current state standards
Informed by other top performing countries in order to prepare all students for success in our global economy and society
The Fordham Institute found that Common Core standards were clearer and more rigorous than the previous standards in the majority of states: 37 states for English language arts, and 39 states for Math. (However, California, Indiana, and DC were "clearly superior" to the Common Core and nearly a dozen states had standards in the same league as the Common Core.)
Mr. T, a NJ educator who played a key role in helping his school transition to the Common Core, commends its focus on important skills not all schools have been teaching:
As an educator I think the Common Core is a step in the right direction. The focus on critical thinking, analysis, and real world problem solving is something that has been lacking in curricula.
However, he notes the confusion many have around the Common Core and the shaky transition period:
I haven't experienced much "backlash" but there definitely a concern among parents and educators on how this Common Core is going to play out. Right now we are in a transition period and it seems that the folks at the state department of education are building the plane as they are flying it. So a lot of people are confused. What we do know is we need to change the way we teach, so that these kids are better prepared for college and the job world.
As a parent, there are several things I like about the Common Core. In math, students are taught multiple ways to solve problems, including some very visual methods, and this should help reach more types of learners. Common Core math also attempts to get kids to understand and work with numbers not as abstract concepts but as representations of units. In language arts, students are asked to use details in the text to support their answer—making them stronger writers and readers, hopefully. Overall, the Common Core encourages kids to demonstrate their thinking, which is great. "Learning how to learn" is one of the top subjects we wish were taught more in schools.
That said, the Common Core—or at least the way it has been implemented—has been terribly frustrating for students, parents, and teachers alike.
What's Wrong with the Common Core
The most pronounced criticisms of the Common Core have been along the lines of "this doesn't make any sense" (from parents, students, and some teachers) and "they're too constrictive" (from some teachers and policymakers). As Stephen Colbert joked, it's like we're rushing to ready our kids for the "pointless stress and confusion" of adult life—spurring them along with newfangled number lines.
Not Your Father's Math
We parents who have never learned how to "skip count" or "draw an array to multiply" are befuddled by the new ways kids do math. Perhaps the most disconcerting issue, for us, is the distance the Common Core has created between parents and their children's education. In the rush to adopt these standards, someone forgot to help the parents—and many of the teachers—come along. More than one teacher confessed to me they didn't understand the new math (or approve of the shift to using more non-fiction works instead of literature). We're often told that parents are critical to students' success in school, but if we can't make sense of our kids' homework, how can we support our kids?
It's like having a nightmare where you're trying to help your child over some hurdle but you're given foreign instructions like "use a multiplication fact as place value as another way to multiply by a multiple of 10." (That's a real math problem.)
With the Common Core, it's not just that the methods are entirely new, either, that's led to so many complaints. Some approaches are needlessly complicated for the problems kids are asked to solve, like this one:
In some cases, the new way makes sense, like when doing mental math to see how much change you should get back if something costs $8 and you have a $20 bill (count two up to ten and then add the other ten). But in this example and countless others, the exercises are convoluted.
It's like the "new math" of the 60s and 70s all over again:
More Rigorous Benchmarks
Former English teacher Pauline Hawkins writes on the Huffington Post the biggest difference between the Common Core State Standards and the old state standards (in Colorado): stricter, more detailed specifications. Before, there were benchmarks for each grade level (e.g., six reading and writing standards), but the schools and teachers were free to decide how to help students reach those benchmarks—and could better tailor lessons for students at different levels. Meanwhile, the Common Core State Standards document detailing the new reading and writing benchmarks is 173 pages long, and it does not account for special needs students, gifted students, or other varying proficiency levels. Some say the new standards are too rigid and a "one size fits all" approach.
Instead of goals like "Students read to locate, select, and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference, and technological sources" and "Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences," CCSS has more specific guidelines like this (found at the bottom of one of my daughter's third grade weekly writing tests):
Common Core State Standards
Informational Text 1.
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Writing 1.
Write opinion pieces on topics or text, supporting a point of view with reasons.
Writing 1.a.
Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create and organizational structure that lists reasons.
Writing 1.b.
Provide reasons that support the opinion.
Writing 1.c.
Use linking words and phrases (e.g.,
because, therefore, since, for example)
to connect opinion and reasons.
Writing 1.d.
Provide a concluding statement or section.
Language 2.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
As someone who taught English and graded too many writing papers for a few years, I won't argue that clearer guidelines for students' writing and critical thinking skills aren't needed. These are all important skills to learn. The rigidity, however, can lead to a cookie-cutter approach and encourage teaching to the test—a very high stakes test for our kids.
Mr. T notes that tying the standards to the tests is a mistake:
However, it is important that we separate the Common Core from the assessments. While the two are related, the state assessments are a very different animal and are mostly controlled by multi-million dollar private contracts. In the case of my home state of NJ we have the PARCC. I was one of the few teachers that got to see the "pilot" test last year. It was a nightmare, for 3 days my students tested for 5 hours or more. Content aside the test fatigue alone is going to torpedo student success on that exam. Granted they are still ironing out the kinks and improvements are coming, but no one really knows how it is going to go. I'm really concerned about "over testing" students. The plan is to have two tests a year on every grade level in both language arts and math. The test is all computer based which makes scoring quicker, but the sheer volume of it may burn students out.
A Program Created By Corporations and Test Publishers, Not Teachers
Proponents of the Common Core are quick to point out that CCSS isn't a national curriculum (content that must be taught), but, well, standards (descriptions of what students are supposed to know)—so we can't blame the Common Core for the confusing math and English problems and all the frustration. Schools and teachers can implement the standards however they wish.
For better or worse, though, a particular curriculum has arisen with the Common Core. There's been bad implementation of educational initiatives in school districts before, of course, but now we're seeing it on a national level. Politics and big money are behind the rapid adoption of the Common Core. Washington Post's Valerie Strauss writes:
The Pearson Corporation [one of the major textbook publishers and who was found to be
calling the shots for test passing marks
at least in NY] has become the ultimate arbiter of the fate of students, teachers, and schools.
Integral to the Common Core was the expectation that they would be tested on computers using online standardized exams. As Secretary Duncan's chief of staff wrote at the time, the Common Core was intended to create a national market for book publishers, technology companies, testing corporations, and other vendors.
Strauss highlights the fact that no parents and only one K-12 educator participated in drafting the standards:
The standards were drafted largely behind closed doors by academics and assessment "experts," many with ties to testing companies.
Education Week
blogger and science teacher Anthony Cody found that, of the 25 individuals in the work groups charged with drafting the standards, six were associated with the test makers from the College Board, five with the test publishers at ACT, and four with Achieve. Zero teachers were in the work groups. The feedback groups had 35 participants, almost all of whom were university professors. Cody found one classroom teacher involved in the entire process.
According to early childhood expert
Nancy Carlsson-Paige: "In all, there were 135 people on the review panels for the Common Core. Not a single one of them was a K–3 classroom teacher or early childhood professional." Parents were entirely missing. K–12 educators were mostly brought in after the fact to tweak and endorse the standards—and lend legitimacy to the results.
The Common Core is tied to profitable test assessments and educational materials, and the unsustainable rate of transition to implement it has resulted in poorly designed curricula and mass confusion.
Not all schools are struggling with the Common Core; those who are embracing it are likely transitioning more slowly and providing teachers and parents with the information and tools they need to effectively help our children.
What You Can Do to Help Your Kids
I saved the most important issue for last. Even if we can't understand our kids' homework, there are still things we can do to continue to support them.
Use your state's resources. Check the standards in your state and the resources offered by your department of education. You'll find materials explaining the objectives for each grade level, with examples of problems the students will have to solve.
Talk to your kid's teacher. They understand your frustration and can tell you the areas your child is excelling in and the ones that are more challenging. Mr. T says:
In terms of how parents can best help their kids that is a tough one. Most parents are unfamiliar with the new methodologies and new standards. I think the best thing they can do is have an open line of communication with their child's teacher and to stay on top of their child's progress. If they see them start to slip, get interventions immediately.
Ask for materials from your teacher. This week was American Education Week, and parents were invited to classrooms to see a sample lesson. It helped me to see the writing rubric (used by teachers to grade work) and the kinds of specific objectives for that lesson, because I can use that knowledge when helping my daughter improve her work. Many teachers are sending home "cheat sheets" or explanations of new methods and goals.
Also, some school districts are offering workshops for parents so they can understand the Common Core strategies. Ask your school if that's offered.
Have your child explain the problems to you. Yes, that's a bit of a role reversal, but the kids sit through the lessons and likely "get" the problems more than we do. By teaching you, they also reinforce their own knowledge.
Help your kids boil down the questions. Story645 offered this helpful tip on Jezebel's Powder Room: Help your kids figure out what the problem is really asking:
What we want to tell parents to do is they don't need to teach the math," says Briars, the president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. "What they need to help their children do is figure out, What is the problem asking you?
Similarly, my daughter tends to overthink questions and answers (and with poorly written multiple choice options, it's easy to argue for more than one choice). So I tell her to look for the "obvious" answer, the one that the question wants.
Because questions are also now often paragraphs long (even in math), you might help your child break down the question into more manageable parts.
Advocate for your child. Finally, if the Common Core really bothers you, consider ways you can voice your dissent. Your school district might allow parents to participate in adopting new curriculum, you can attend school board meetings, and you should vote in state and federal elections (in the most recent election, "Stop Common Core" was a ballot line in many states, and voters made their choice clear in many states). Here are more ideas for parent advocacy in the public school system.
Photos by rdlamkin (Shutterstock), R2D2 (Shutterstock), artizarus (Shutterstock), Erik Erickson, Arizonans Against Common Core, Peter Gene.