Common Core, the new nationwide grading and studying formula that will invade public schools coast to coast next year, is the stranger in our midst, defying easy, transparent definition.
School Board candidate Claudia Vizcarra, no stranger to professional education, told a meet ‘n greet event Friday afternoon at the home of Andy Alexander that she has “concerns” about Common Core.
“I have read a lot about the concerns people have, and I share some of them,” said the mother of two students. “It is the proof-in-the-pudding we have to see.
“I have mixed feelings. I think about teachers. If teachers are apprehensive, it makes me apprehensive.
Driving to Core of New Style
“I am so glad that parents in our District are interested in substantive conversations about the issues of education. The implementation of the Common Core Standards, for example, presents a wonderful opportunity to engage in a dialogue about how to prepare our students for the future, for both college and career.
“We can talk about how it is that students learn best and how we make sure our instructional staff is supported for the changes that lie ahead.
“It is important,” Ms. Vizcarra said, “that the new Board be prepared for the important decisions that they will have to make in preparation for implementing the new standards. For example: The Board will need to decide how to make investments to ensure the collaborative environments that will be required exist in our schools, that the appropriate technology and staff to support assessment are available, that the needs of all students are met, and that parents and community members are brought into these conversations.”
A woman in the crowd asked her to explain Common Core.
What Is It?
“New standards that are going to be in place next year,” Ms. Vizcarra said. “Instead of the test-taking that we knew and reacted against, filling in the bubbles, there will be a change.
“Common Core is intended to be a more effective way of testing and teaching for understanding. It is to help students develop critical thinking skills and to be more creative. They have taken into consideration what we have learned over the years about what works better.”
A woman asked if standardized testing – “where everybody takes the same test, regardless of geographic or socio-economic standing” – is at the spine of the Common Core experiment.
An Upside
Isn’t uniformity a leading objective?
“Depends on who you are talking to,” said the candidate. “The ultimate goal is a broader understanding by students and to develop critical thinking skills. We want to make sure they are engaged with the material in place that they haven’t been.
“The Common Core is a different way. We don’t know what it is going to look like because it is all very new. I know teachers are very apprehensive. I understand that because it is totally different.
“It is going to be all about professional development, how much time we put into making sure teachers know, how patient we are with teachers who are learning.
“Not everyone,” Ms. Vizcarra said, “can pick up another way of teaching so quickly. This is about training teachers, making sure we have uniformity, consistency.”
She said that New York was the first state where Common Core standards were attempted, and test scores, to the disappointment of all, “dropped tremendously.
“That is a lot of the reason for concern,” Ms. Vizcarra said. “We may need to get used to that. I don’t know how it is going to be here.”
