The Common Core State Standards

Hate it? Love it?

The general consensus seems to be the negative. If you are not familiar with or are confused about Common Core State Standards (CCSS), allow me to give you a brief summary. CCSS is the latest national educational reform. Every state has had its own academic standards. State standards are deemed necessary because they hold the teachers accountable and they provide some sort of uniformity.  They are not new. They've been around for who knows how long. But national standards... that's something new.

CCSS is unique because 48 out of the 50 US states have chosen to adopt them as their state standards, hence aligning the standards across most of the country. The idea behind that is if a student moves from one state to another, he/she will still be taught the same standards, and students across the nation will graduate having received the same education. Or something like that.

CCSS is also different because each grade level standards build on one another and are meant to spiral (meaning the previously taught content will be re-applied continuously rather than being taught once and not be seen again).

Furthermore, CCSS is designed to not only cover more standards but to dig deeper into those standards. For example, my 2nd graders need to know how to add and subtract 3 digit numbers within 1,000 (345 + 696 = ___). Not a big deal, right? Well, here is what CCSS is asking: students need to explain HOW they got their answer and WHY that is the answer. So in taking the math problem above, students would have to explain why 5 + 6 is 11 and how and why you make a set of 10 from the 11 and carry the set of 10 to the tens place, blah blah blah. They need to do this with base ten drawings, number lines, or whatever strategy that floats their boat. As long as it provides evidence of their answer.

I'm no CCSS expert, by any means. I'm still trying to understand the complexity of it. And I'm not here to say it's bad or good. Am I a fan? Eh. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. I see both the pros and cons, but there will ALWAYS be pros and cons to any educational reforms.Whether it's No Child Gets Left Behind or CCSS or whatever comes next.

We can cry all we want about how CCSS will ruin our children's education, how it's promoting socialism, or how CCSS only works for higher students. Personally, as a parent, CCSS is the least of my concerns. I am more concerned about my daughter's teacher's ability to teach (she is AMAZING, by the way). The teacher is the heart of the classroom, not the standards. The teacher's attitude, integrity, work ethics, knowledge, and her ability to differentiate, scaffold, and deliver will have more effect on our children's education than any state or national standards. No matter what the standards are, no matter what changes take place, an effective teacher will make them work.

I suggest we all just quit whining and go spy on our child's teacher instead. :)

Thanks for reading!