Teachers are preparing for Core, a national curriculum designed to bolster rigor in American education. Classes are going to get more challenging as the curriculum is phased in over the next two years. At least, that’s the intent.
Unlike previous teaching initiatives, such as former president George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Core stands out to assistant principal John Billingslea, who calls it more more educationally stimulating.
“It’s teaching kids to think about the problems, not simply the answer to the question,” Billingslea said. He added that it will provide an opportunity to teach cognitive skills.
The Common Core State Standards, an Obama administration initiative – not a national requirement, but an incentive for states to receive federal funding – has been adopted by 46 states. Maryland approved it in June 2010.
A chief aim of Core is to link learning across subject areas. So math skills could be implemented in English class and vice versa.
“You already do math and writing in Tech. With Core, you’ll see more math and writing, as well as tech concepts in other classes,” technology education teacher Brian Bruneau said.
Another aim of Core is to incorporate standards that build from grade level to grade level, beginning in kindergarten. That explains why, at a Core training session in January, teachers examined snippets of paper displaying 14 reading skills from the national curriculum, attempting to arrange them from kindergarten to 12th grade. At that same meeting teachers explored technology education by building towers of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows.
Bruneau, English teacher Kristi Korrow, social studies teacher Brian Velten and math teacher Vicki Bracken have been tapped to lead faculty training sessions this year.
Science teacher Marty Stranathan commends the new emphasis on reading and writing.
“One can tell right away whether or not students have a deeper understanding by reading their writing. That’s the goal of Core.”
Core, though, has not defined what will happen to standardized tests. According to Kelly Smith, the county’s Coordinator for Secondary English and Language Arts, no steps are in place to remove these tests.
But knowledgeable sources predict otherwise.
“I think HSAs will go away and be replaced by another test,” English department chairman Beth Benzinger said. ”In what grade, I don’t know. But they’ll be different.”
Such differences may be troublesome for some. Core will take approximately 12 years to fully take effect. And according to Billingslea, this leaves anyone who isn’t in first grade at the time of Core’s implementation to be expected to know things they may not have been taught.
“Kids who are going to be slammed into it – for them it’s going to be awkward,” Billingslea said.
Despite the 18 professional development activities slated to prepare teachers for Core, totally clarity could take a while.
“Well, teachers have no answers,” Bracken said.” We’re just being introduced to the bare minimum of what will be. The curriculum needs to be (fully) developed.”
Technology education teacher Dave Schein goes one step further.
“With the little information I have, I fear that it’s shaping up to be a horrific way to roll out a curriculum.”