Panel of educators discusses Common Core in public meeting
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
POLSON — In an effort to boost education, Common Core State Standards were developed and 44 states jumped on the bandwagon.
According to the website corestandards.org, Common Core State Standards provide clear and consistent learning goals to help prepare students for college, career, and life. The standards demonstrate what students are expected to learn at each grade level, so that every parent and teacher can understand and support their learning.
While the standards set grade-specific goals, they do not define how the standards should be taught or which materials should be used to support students.
In November 2011, the Montana Board of Public Education voted to replace Montana’s standards with Common Core standards.
A May 28 public meeting provided an opportunity for the public to ask questions about Common Core and get answers.
With more than 150 years experience in education among them, the panel of instructors and administrators had lots of wisdom to offer.
Michelle Woods, Lake County Superintendent of Schools, facilitated questions submitted before hand and also some the night of the event.
The first question went to Dennis Parman, deputy superintendent of Montana Office of Public Instruction, asking why it was necessary to adopt the new set of standards for public education.
Parman said PISA and TIMSS international tests found that United States students were ranked 29th out of 65 countries
At a state level, the Montana university system reported that about 30 percent of Montana graduates had to take a remedial math course.
Parman said that a commissioned study compared Montana’s standards with Common Core standards. 26 percent were an excellent match, 38 percent were a good match and 16 percent were a weak match.
The Montana Board of Public Education extended the public comment time an additional 240 days on the issue, he said.
Another question asked if the new standards are more rigorous.
Rhonda Crowl, instructional coach for Polson answered, saying standards are definitely more rigorous.
“They are asking for not just a memorization/regurgitation kind of an education ... they are asking for high level thinking skills,” Crowl said. “We live in a culture where kids need to think and analyze.”
“One of the things I really like about the extensive rigor,” Darcy Laud, elementary teacher in Polson added, “is that it has forced us to do more teaming as teachers ... Standards are the outcome, curriculum is how we get there.”
Discussing the difference between standards and curriculum, Anna Baldwin, Arlee English teacher and Montana teacher of the year said, “... Our schools are still responsible for our curriculum.”
As an English teacher, Baldwin said she still needs to get texts approved. While Arlee School is in the process of adopting Common Core standards, Baldwin said the teachers won’t say, “Oh, I’ve been taken over.”
As far as whether these standards have ever been tested, Parman said, “No. No standards are ever tested. When these standards were developed, we looked at the ones Montana had.”
Then they looked at states and countries that were performing well educationally, and it appeared their standards were more rigorous.
As a teacher in a two-room school with one other teacher, Valley View teacher Carol Madden said Common Core gives her a solid framework since she doesn’t have the resource of other teachers.
She added that some kids are very mobile and they might move to another area. If the standards are the same, it’s less stressful for them.
The math Common Core standards are “the most shot-at, hit, and criticized,” said Terry Souhrada, instructor at Salish Kootenai College.
The standards do much more than talk about children making sense of math. The students have to take what they know and argue about what they think is true.
Common Core standards provide a starting place; they allow the kids who can excel to excel, he said.
Baldwin said English teachers are rejoicing because English and language arts standards are not just for English class, since students read and write in science, social studies and math.
“If you haven’t read the Common Core standards, read them,” Baldwin said.
She also advised people to talk to teachers and administrators to see what’s going on in the classrooms.
Charlo Principal Steve Love agreed.
“Go to the horse’s mouth. Don’t believe everything that’s on Facebook or in the newspaper,” Love said. “Go find out face to face. Talk to an administrator.”
To read the standards, go to opi.mt.gov and access them through the tabs at the top of the page.
Other panel members included Rich Ferris, a St. Ignatius math teacher and Darlene Triplett, a teacher at Two Eagle River School.
About 40 community members attended the meeting.
