The much talked about Common Core State Standards for grades K through 12 are designed to make students think more critically and abstractedly in reading/English/language arts and math. The goal is to prepare students for college and the job market – in the U.S. and around the world.
But are teachers ready for this newest new thing?
To make sure, more than 1,000 Maryland teachers and principals are taking classes in 11 locations, including two in Baltimore. By the end of the summer, more than 7,000 Maryland educators will have taken the classes.
The state’s Common Core math standards call for a more intense focus on at least two topic areas, such as mastering linear equations and integer exponents, plus a stronger linkage between what is learned from one grade to the next and the incorporation of real-world applications. Maryland was one of the first of 45 states and the District of Columbia to adopt the Common Core State Standards.
One principal and at least four teachers from each public school in the state are taking Common Core classes this summer. This is the third year of the training. The participants will take what they learned back to their home schools and show colleagues how to implement the standards.
During one of many Common Core math sessions held at Northwood Appold Community Academy in Baltimore, some of the teachers looked confused as they went through the large binders they were given, filled with Common Core instructional strategies, web links and other resource materials. One Baltimore teacher, who did not want his name used, is representative of why the summer Common Core classes are important. After several years of teaching literature and science, he’s teaching math next year. “This is all new to me, even the old standards are new to me, so for me to focus on the transition is confusing,” he said.
In one of the Baltimore classes, about 20 teachers worked in small groups in an English/language arts Common Core class. A major shift they face is that half of elementary and middle school students’ reading assignments will have to be nonfiction. The nonfiction requirement increases to 70 percent for twelfth graders.
Trainer and Baltimore County reading specialist Barbara Pivonski said, “Children are going to be using a lot more nonfiction text because that’s what you use in college,” Pivonski said. “We felt in the past--and research shows--that by the time they get to college, they are not familiar with enough nonfiction text.” The trainers say the nonfiction requirements will be spread out in all subjects and could include texts such as historical speeches in social studies classes or scientific journal articles in chemistry classes. They assured teachers that the fiction classics will not be abandoned.
Patricia Harris, a language arts teacher at Abbottston Elementary, is not concerned. “You’re still going to be teaching literature and making sure the students can understand complex text, so I’m pretty excited,” Harris said.
Edgecombe Circle Elementary/Middle School principal Sharone Brinkley-Parker says the Common Core classes have been helpful and gave them a chance to collaborate on ideas. “The most beneficial thing is there are multiple members of your school team here and so we’re able to get together and create a plan and actually use that plan in the work we do throughout the year,” Brinkley-Parker said.
Assistant Principal Ayana Rodgers, who works at the National Academy Foundation in Baltimore, says she’s excited about the Common Core implementation, but worries if administrators will be able to give their teachers all of the support they will need in the classroom. “One of the hardest things is being there to support your teachers as you implement Common Core,” Rodgers said. “You want to be in the classrooms daily, you want to support teachers in a way that says I’m here for you, but there are so many hats we wear and some days you might feel you’re spread a little thin, so finding that balance is key.”