Almost all of the states have adopted common core standards for public schools in English, Language Arts, and Math. The standards set clear expectations for student achievement at each grade level. They also require students to show they understand what they’ve learned.
The goal is to tackle learning problems early on so more students graduate ready for college or a career.
Kindergarteners in Tallahassee are learning to read using the new common core standards. The students have to show they understand what they’re reading. Their teacher Katherine Kenton says comprehension is the primary focus.
Florida is phasing in common core over four years. This is the second year.
“I just find that the kids are learning a lot more because I think I’m paying a lot more attention to the details when I look at the standards”, said Kenton.
Gilchrist Elementary School Principal David Solz says one of the ideas behind Common Core is that students should be learning at the same pace, from state to state.
Solz said, “If you move from Georgia to Florida, they’re learning the same things in second grade that you’d be learning there.”
To determine how well kids are learning around the country, federal “Race to the Top” grants are being used to design two kinds of common core testing. Florida is developing tests to measure how well students can read complex writing, complete research projects, and work with digital media. Those tests will be used in 21 other states, plus the District of Columbia.
Right now, the FCAT is given once a year. The new tests will be given throughout the year.
Georgia is beginning to use the same Common Core standards that Florida first started phasing in last year. Students in Stormi Johnson’s third grade math class at the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics are tackling word problems.
Students in Common Core states are learning to explain their reasoning. And, Mrs. Johnson says, that means they have to do more than simple calculations:
“I need you to show me you understand the procedures, with a picture, with sentences, so that’s been the tricky part for the kids”, explained Johnson.
As the students break into groups to continue working, Swarat Kulkarni explained how he used a diagram to solve a problem, “When I have 3 boxes and there’s 24 pencils, and the key word is ‘each,’ 24 divided by 3 is 8, like so. So my answer is, ‘8 pencils are in each box.’”
Students aren’t the only ones working harder. Teachers are too. The Common Core is a set of standards –not a full curriculum. That means teachers, like Stormi Johnson, have to come up with lessons to teach the concepts.
“If teachers are doing a really good job teaching it, they’re spending lots and lots of time on just figuring out, ‘What is the best way to teach this skill'”, said Johnson.
And since current textbooks weren’t written with Common Core in mind, teachers are on their own.
Both Georgia and Florida are scheduled to start using the new tests within two years.