Common Core State Standards
Questions and Answers….
1) What are the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)?
The Common Core State Standards Initiative is the largest-ever attempt in the
United States to unify state level standards into a more effective and efficient
format. They indicate what students in kindergarten through 12th grade should
know and be able to do in each grade in preparation for college and the
workforce. Right now, the CCSS cover two areas: Math and English
Language Arts (writing and reading).
The National Governor’s Association, the Council of Chief State School
Officers and content area experts from 48 states developed the CCSS. To
date, most states and the District of Columbia have formally adopted the
CCSS. By spring of 2015, most of these states plan to administer state tests
that have been aligned to the CCSS.
In West Virginia, the CCSS are called the Next Generation Content Standards
and Objectives. The 2015 state test is called the Smarter Balanced
Assessment. Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives have been
developed for Social Studies, and Science “NxG CSOs” are currently under
construction. Neither the Social Studies or Science WV NxG standards are
part of the national CCSS.
2) From where were the Common Core State Standards
Derived?
The major groups involved in developing the standards include a nonprofit
called Achieve, which was founded by a group of business leaders and
governors in 1996, which was long before CCSS.
In 2009, Achieve partnered with the National Governors Association and the
Council of Chief State School Officers to begin developing the CCSS. The
standards were initially released in 2010, and most states began the process
of adopting them that year.
West Virginia compiled a group of its own education experts from all over the
state to discuss the validity and quality of the CCSS. This group of nearly 150
was comprised of K-12 teachers, parents, business leaders, and college
professors. They took on the work of putting the Common Core State
Standards into the West Virginia framework of numbering and terminology.
Although some people think that the CCSS were a product of the federal
government, their development was actually led by the National Governors
Association; the Council of Chief State School Officers; and state
superintendents, including then WV state superintendent, Dr. Steve Paine.
Other groups also contributed to the process including the Alliance for
Excellent Education of which former WV governor Bob Wise is president, the
Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy, the National Association of
Boards of Education, the Business Roundtable, ACT, and the College Board,
headed by former WV Governor Gaston Caperton.
The results of these groups of respected educational professionals was not a
politically motivated effort to substantially change the way our students think
and act but truly an attempt to improve the basis for public education and its
content, curriculum, and instruction. These major points of emphasis are far
from some of the misinformation that is conveyed in our media. Instead, the
standards focus on the improvement of pedagogy for the sake of our
students.
For example, the CCSS is attributed with three major shifts in English,
language arts and literacy:
1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational text.
2. Improving reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from literary
and informational text.
3. Utilizing regular practice with complex text and associated academic
vocabulary.
3) Why do we need the Common Core State Standards?
Some of the problems with individual state standards were that they included
too many standards, covered too much content, did not align standards,
curriculum, instruction and assessment, and varied too much from state to
state. For example, West Virginia recognized that its Instructional Goals and
Objective (IGOs) contained an impractical amount of standards and content;
therefore, the revised version, known as the Content Standards and
Objectives (CSOs) reduced these considerably. These 21st Century CSOs
were eventually replaced with the current NxG CSOs, which are more
rigorous and are based in higher-level thinking.
Several arguments have been made in favor of creating a single set of
expectations for what students should know and be able to do.
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No Child Left Behind, a federal law, mandated that all states give
annual assessments in grades 3-12 to ensure that all students were
proficient. However, each state chose its own test and its own definition
of proficiency. So, in practice, the numbers couldn't really be compared
from state to state. In theory, the CCSS brings common definitions of
proficiency for each grade, allowing for clearer comparisons of how
kids are doing from state to state and from school to school.
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Those previous state-specific standards — in lots of cases — were
also not as rigorous as the CCSS. So adoption of the CCSS, in many
states, means a rise in quality.
In the past, private companies created textbooks, materials, and tests
to satisfy requirements for 50 different states. A common, agreed-upon
set of standards enables a single marketplace of materials, which
should lead to more competition and better quality materials.
Other countries with high-performing students also use a single set of
national standards.
A single set of standards, including sequencing from grade to grade,
should make it easier for students to catch up when they switch
schools or move to a new state.
4) Are the Common Core State Standards a curriculum, or just
a set of standards?
The Common Core State Standards are only standards. The CCSS do not
specify the use of curricula, textbooks, workbooks, or lesson plans — let
alone particular math problems. In order to teach the new standards, some
schools are adopting new materials labeled "Common Core-aligned." The
creation of new materials, the realignment of old materials, and the training of
teachers to teach to the CCSS within a few short years are all causing
adjustment issues. Teachers are being challenged to rethink their teaching
practices to create problem solvers and critical thinkers as they address the
CCSS.
What many parents will notice if they have a child taking math in a CCSS
state is that kids are being asked to perform the same old equations, but
they're being taught new ways of arriving at the old answers. There's a new
emphasis on breaking down numbers into their parts so that students better
understand what it means to add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
5) Who supports the Common Core State Standards?
The College Board, which creates the SAT and AP exams, as well as ACT
have supported the CCSS since its inception. The NCAA has accepted the
CCSS for qualification for athletic scholarships. In West Virginia, the Higher
Education Policy Commission, which sets policy for the state colleges and
universities and the PROMISE Scholarship, have supported the NxG
standards from the beginning. Harrison County Schools, along with the West
Virginia Department of Education and 45 other state education agencies,
supports the CCSS (WV NxG CSOs).
The National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers
(AFT), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and National
Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) all assembled teachers to give
feedback and input on the CCSS. The NEA and AFT, the two largest
teachers' unions in the country, both initially published statements of support
for the CCSS and so have various principals, school board officers, teachers,
the military, and the national PTA, among others.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic funds
in the world, has made the development and adoption of the Common Core
standards a key strategy in its education programs.
Together these organizations created of set of three criteria to guide the
design of the Common Core State Standards:
1. The new standards should be fewer, clearer, and higher than previous
standards.
2. The new standards should be based on research about what students need
to know and to do to be ready for college and careers after high school.
3. The new standards should be internationally benchmarked.
6) What was the federal government's role in creating the
Common Core State Standards?
This is probably the greatest single source of controversy surrounding the
CCSS. The truth is, the federal government played NO ROLE in creating
the standards, nor did it require that states adopt them. But the U.S.
Department of Education under President Obama and Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan did recognize the adoption of high quality standards and
assessment in flexibility waiver requests to No Child Left Behind.
The CCSS adoption is independent of federal funding and was not tied to the
“Race to the Top” grant. The state of Virginia was awarded “Race to the Top”
funding, but chose not to adopt the CCSS. West Virginia was not awarded
any “Race to the Top” funding, but chose to adopt the CCSS. The “Race to
the Top” grants did fund the development of the assessments: Smarter
Balanced and PARCC (Partnership of Assessment of Readiness for College
and Careers).
“The federal government didn't write them, didn't approve them, and doesn't
mandate them. And we never will. Anyone who says otherwise is either
misinformed or willfully misleading….
It was voluntary—we didn't mandate it—but we absolutely encouraged this
state-led work because it is good for kids and good for the country.” Arne
Duncan, American Society of News Editors Annual Convention, June 25,
2013.
7) What are the Common Core State Standards replacing?
Every state previously set its own educational standards. WV had
Instructional Goals and Objectives (IGOs) which were replaced with 21st
Century Content Standards and Objectives (CSOs). These have now been
replaced with Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives (NxG
CSOs).
In 33 states, including West Virginia, the CCSS were found to be clearly
superior to previous state standards in both math and English. The CCSS
provide more rigor and relevance across subjects and grade levels.
The WV NxG CSOs which set expectations for our students may be
accessed in the following policies at http://wvde.state.wv.us/policies/ .
Policy 2520.1A Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for English
Language Arts in West Virginia Schools
(PDF)
Policy 2520.2B Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for
Mathematics in West Virginia Schools
(PDF)
Policy 2520.4
The Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for Social
Studies in West Virginia
(PDF, external); (Word, external)
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Kindergarten students began learning under these new standards in
2011-2012
In 2012-2013, students in grades 1, 4, 5, and 9 began the
rollout…including Math I to all freshmen.
As of the 2013-2014 school year, all Harrison County students in have
been taught using these standards.
The speaking and listening portion of the standards are allowing our
students to learn to work with others, share their thoughts and
opinions, and learn to respect and accept the ideas of others. These
skills are preparing them to know how to work collaboratively...which is
preparing them for the work force.
The standards STRONGLY encourage learners to APPLY what they
have learned and not just give a simple answer. They ask students to
explain “how” they arrived at an answer which allows different avenues
to the correct answer.
8) What is the difference between the Common Core State
Standards and WV NxG Content Standards and Objectives?
Eighty-five educators from across West Virginia gathered to design the
framework for the WV Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives
based upon the Common Core standards. The verbage remained the same
as the common core yet a new numerical format unique to WV was created.
9) What do the Common Core State Standards mean for
math?
The slogan of the CCSS is "fewer, higher, deeper" — a smaller number of
more rigorous standards with a focus on both understanding and application.
In math, the standards are designed to be coherent and connected in a
consistent sequence, with concepts that build on each other from grade to
grade. Grades K-2 cover addition and subtraction; grades 3-5 cover
multiplication, division and fractions; grades 6-8 cover ratios, proportions and
algebraic concepts.
In West Virginia, high school mathematics is integrated into courses called
Math I, Math II, and Math III. There tend to be more standards in these
courses because they include the integration of areas of mathematics. Math I
includes Algebra, Geometry, and Statistics. Math II includes Algebra,
Geometry, basic Trigonometry, and Probability. Math III includes Algebra,
Geometry, and Trigonometry. There are several common themes within the
courses such as functions, graphing, solving all types of equations, and
problem solving.
The standards set a floor, not a ceiling. College bound students should plan
on taking dual-credit and AP classes to further prepare for the study of
mathematics. Harrison County Schools offer several options for higher-level
math while still in high school.
10) What do the Common Core State Standards mean for
English?
The Common Core is attributed with three major shifts in English, language
arts and literacy:
1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction.
2. Reading, writing, and speaking is grounded in evidence from literary and
informational text.
3. Regular practice with complex text and associated academic language.
In English, as in math, the slogan of the CCSS is "fewer, higher, deeper" — a
smaller number of more rigorous standards with a focus on both
understanding and application. In English Language Arts, the standards
emphasize using evidence from texts in writing, and answering textdependent questions in reading.
Students are expected to be fluent in argumentative, explanatory, and
narrative writing. For example, rather than being asked to write an essay
based purely on personal experience, like the classic "What I Did on My
Summer Vacation," a third-grader might be asked to write a paper arguing
that school should not be held year-round, giving reasons for his or her
opinion that summer vacation is good for children.
The biggest difference between a CCSS English classroom and English
classes of old may be a shift toward nonfiction and informational texts at
increasing levels of complexity. This leads to a greater emphasis on reading
and writing across subjects, and on "academic" and technical vocabulary. In
grades K-5, the standards specify a 50-50 mix of literature, such as poetry
and short stories, with nonfiction texts covering subjects like science, history
and social studies. In grades 6-12, even within the literature category, more of
the reading will be "literary nonfiction," including journalism and essays.
The CCSS in English Language Arts don't include a reading list or canon. The
only author they specify is Shakespeare, alongside foundational American
history texts and literary "classics." But they do offer a list of suggested
"exemplar texts" — including books like Charlotte's Web in 2nd grade, Little
Women and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in middle school, and
Jane Eyre and Walden in 11th grade.
Appendix B includes dozens of titles that the CCSS writers consider "text
exemplars" — in other words, suggestions for teachers looking for ageappropriate reading material that will help their students reach core
benchmarks. They include everything from Green Eggs and Ham to
Shakespeare's Sonnet 73. But these texts are recommended, not required.
The standards also call for a balance of informational texts and literature but,
again, do not require specific books or reading materials.
The CCSS also emphasize literacy in science and social studies, not just in
English class. Students may be asked to read a scientific paper, the
Constitution, or even a map.
11) How will we know if all of this is working?
It will take at least a few years of transition time to know for sure if the CCSS
are working as designed. Advocates of the standards say they want Common
Core to be measured by increased college and career readiness for
graduates, as well as the United States’ results on international tests like the
PISA.
The new CCSS tests are harder, and they are unfamiliar. That adds up to a
steep drop in scores. In Kentucky and New York, which gave CCSS-aligned
tests for the first time in 2012 and 2013 respectively, the percentage of
students who met the "proficient" cutoff dropped by 25-30 percentage points.
With West Virginia’s new School Accountability System, a heavy emphasis is
placed on the growth of ALL students from one year to the next. The focus on
individual student growth will drive better classrooms, better schools, as well
as better county and state school systems.