The Common Core State Standards

RL.9-10.1.1-7 Reading closely informational texts and viewing multimedia to determine how meaning is conveyed and explicit and implicit through language.

What is Common Core? According to the Common Core organization website, the Common Core is a set of high-quality standards in Math and English. The goals laid in place by the Common Core govern what information a student should know, and what skills they should be able to perform at the end of each grade. With no regard to student background, or where they came from, the standards were constructed to ensure that all students enter the real-world with proper knowledge and skills in which are essential to succeed. In 2009, state school chiefs and governors that recognized the value and need for collaborated and coinciding goals across the nation coordinated a state-led effort to create the Common Core State Standards.

The Common Core State Standards are considered to be a high-quality group of academic standards. Before the standards were developed, it seemed as if the progress of the students in the United States was remaining stagnant and that America students were falling behind their international peers. The blame for this setback has fallen on the fact that standards are not consistent and from state-to-state students are required to know different things at different grade levels. As a result students are not graduating with the same set of skills (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014).

Common Core State Standards, or Common Core for short, has been making headlines in 2014. Not a curriculum, Common Core is a set of standards defining the skills in which students from kindergarten through 12th grade need to have each year in order to be prepared for the next grade. Creating these national academic standards was a state-led initiative that included a coalition of educators and governors. Administrators, educators and parents participated in the developement of the actual standards. Here's a look at how Common Core evolved.

Common Core State Standards is being heard throughout the education world. Many cringe when the words are spoken and many fight to support what the words stand for. Common Core was introduced in 2009 by state leaders. Common Core State Standards were developed to prepare children for the business world or the reality after grade school. “The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, also known as ELA” (About the Standards, n.d.). The goals for the standards outline what students should know before leaving his or her current grade level. “The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live” (About the Standards, n.d.). This is an ambitious goal, but with much support can be accomplished. According to Common Core State Standards Initiative (n.d.) The Common Core has been adopted by forty-two states already and is accompanied by District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity. Common Core was developed to improve the academics in society’s schools. Academics in the past years have not been successful and the United States has fallen behind international education. “One root cause has been an uneven patchwork of academic standards that vary from state to state and do not agree on what students should know and be able to do at each

Within the last couple of years the Education system was introduced to the Common Core Standards. There are many people that still do not really understand what the Common Core Standards are and what they do. I am one of those people. As an education major, I know some about the Common Core, but there are still some things that I do not understand. The Common Core is set up for Educators to use as a plan that will help them teach and assess how their students are doing. The Common Core is set up across the country. All schools have to follow the Common Core. For each grade level, they have different standards that show the teachers what their students should be able to accomplish by that grade level. Each student will all be assessed and graded

I am assuming the role of a principal and I am questioning the support of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) within my school environment. Based on the information in Issues in K-12 Education Case Study Document 5, there are numerous issues concerning CCSS that a principal must consider for their school to be successful. These issues include: federal jurisdiction over curricula, the time allotted for implementation of federal standards, the impact of test results on professional development and teacher evaluations, and the possible elimination of other essential educational resources when implementing standards. The issues affect all stakeholders and their concerns regarding the process, content, fairness, funding, assessment, and gaps in achievement need to be addressed.

This is one unit in a yearlong 6th grade math course. In this unit, the students will learn about expressions and equations. Students will learn how letters stand for numbers, and be able to read, write, and evaluate expressions in which these letters take the place of numbers. In this unit, students will learn how to identify parts of an expression using various new terms. They will learn to solve both one- and two-step equations. Students will be able to distinguish between dependent and independent variables. They will be able to identify the dependent and independent variables of equations and in turn, be able to graph them. Various activities to be completed inside and outside of the classroom will be used to show

Common Core standards were introduced in 2010 and now schools all over the nation are implementing Common Core literacy standards for writing in physical education. According to the website SPARK, which is dedicated to creating, implementing, and evaluating research-based programs that promote lifelong wellness, “The standards prepare students for college and the workforce by providing them with various skills that enforce writing, thinking critically, and solving real-world problems” (SPARK, 2013). The Common Core standards are made up of three components: 1) Text types and purposes 2) Production and distribution of writing 3) Research to build and present knowledge. Physical Education teachers create lesson activities based on these components.

According to the Common Core State Standards, third graders should demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings (CCSS L.3.5). The purpose of the word study lesson is to introduce students to figurative language. More specifically, we wanted students to be able to distinguish the figurative and literal meanings of idioms. They will use More Parts by Tedd Arnold to create a poster distinguishing the figurative and literal meanings of idioms used in the book. By using the context of the book along with its illustrations, students will have an easier time deciphering the idioms and will become more familiar with the phrases being used. The main goal of this lesson is to not only introduce students

The Common Core State Standards are a state attempt to create strong educational standards. The standard are created to ensure that students in the country are learning and grasping the information that are given in the classrooms for them to succeed academically. The Common Core plan included governors and education commissioners form forty-eight states and the District of Columbia. They wanted to make sure the standards are relevant, logical and sequential. For content all subjects must have critical-thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. Some positive aspects of this policy is that it prepares our students for a competitive global jobs. It can provide national connections in education. Designed to shape the best standards so that all states will be taking a step ahead in education. These standards had been created after extensive research by professional educators for excellence in education. The CCS focus on what students expectations of learning, and achievements. Educators do not need to worry that the standards will make their jobs look redundant because they are in charge of creating lessons to teach their students the content and skills that the CCS demands. The teachers do not feel that the standards are one-size-fits-all. Some negative aspects of the policy are that is a program created by solely the government. The CCS is a program put together on idyllic situations in education by individuals who have subsidy and students ahead of the learning

With all the hype about the Common Core State Standards, it’s easy to forget that some states have decided not to adopt the standards–plus, some adopting states are now re-evaluating their decisions. Perhaps one of the biggest arguments against the standards is that “while core curriculum has improved performance in states with traditionally good education systems,” states that have struggled academically wonder if the standards are more a one-size-fits-all pathway instead of a “great equalizing force,” in which the common standards bridge a gap between vocational education and the university pathway.

Before the birth of Common Core, Illinois like many other states had its learning standards to identify what students should know and be able to do pertinent to their grade levels. Implementing such standards caused many Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to end up on academic probation, due to low test scores and failure to progress students to proficiency levels in core subjects like reading and math. In fact, Chicago Tonight reports that only 35 percent of eighth graders across the country meet proficiency standards in reading while only 25 percent of high school seniors that took the SAT examination showed college readiness through their test scores.

In 2010, the education system in the state of Arizona began to change. The Arizona State Board of Education adopted new standards for school districts to follow and abide by. The new standards known as Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards (ACCRS) began to be implemented by schools statewide by early 2013. The purpose of the new standards is to be a set of benchmarks (standardized tests) for students of all grades to take and meet as they move through the Arizona school system. The state of Arizona believes that a “consistent framework to prepare students” is through the increased advancement of language arts, social studies (history), science and mathematics.

I find a lot of value in having a standard curriculum that is implemented statewide. I think it will be difficult to plan a uniform curriculum for a student with a disability. I think individual lesson plans should be developed to best suit the student. I understand that, and agree, that there should be shared expectations for student performance, so that no child is left behind. In my opinion, the objective of Common Core State Standards “to offer rigor and depth to a curriculum to better prepare students in the United States for college and careers for the future” (Vaughn, Bos, & Schumm, 2014, p. 306) is a great idea but has failed to be implemented successfully. When I was a student, I had the option of graduating early, when I arrived in