Common Core State Standards were developed to build up the varied foundations created by different states into a set of national standards, or expectations, for what students should learn to prepare them for work and college.
AFT, a longtime advocate for common standards, supports this effort. These standards represent the best effort so far to transform today’s patchwork quilt of 50 sets of state standards into one set of strong, consistent expectations for what all students should know and learn. Educators have praised the standards for presenting a comprehensive learning experience, rather than teaching to the test. "This new set of standards actually is about trying to help all kids reach a deeper understanding," said AFT president Randi Weingarten at an AFT-sponsored conference on the Common Core. "It is about helping us help kids learn to critically think, and learn to apply knowledge as opposed to simply memorize."
Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.
Teachers, parents and community leaders have all weighed in to help create the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core State Standards focus on core conceptual understandings and procedures starting in the early grades, thus enabling teachers to take the time needed to teach core concepts and procedures well—and to give students the opportunity to master them.
Standards do not tell teachers how to teach, but they do help teachers figure out the knowledge and skills their students should have so that teachers can build the best lessons and environments for their classrooms. Standards also help students and parents by setting clear and realistic goals for success. The standards are informed by the highest, most effective models from states across the country and countries around the world, and provide teachers and parents with a common understanding of what students are expected to learn. Consistent standards will provide appropriate benchmarks for all students, regardless of where they live.
Resources:
The Common Core State Standards Initiative provides background about the process of developing consistent standards, what the standards are and how they are used to improve education.
Visit the Ohio Department of Education's web page about the common core.
Relationships between old and new content standards and the Common Core - ODE documents summarize relationships between the previous standards (2001-2002) and the 2010 standards (to be in place by 2014-2015). These resources will assist curriculum specialists and teachers in reviewing their current curricula and instruction in preparation for the transition to revised standards.
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of states working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers, as measured by the skills developed through the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. These new K-12 assessments will build a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students’ progress toward this goal from 3rd grade up, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support.
Student Achievement Partners (SAP) played a leading role in developing the Common Core State Standards in math and literacy, a process that drew on the input of teachers, states, higher education, business leaders, and researchers from across the country.
Basal Alignment Prioject and the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, which represents large urban districts, recognized that in order to reflect the standards’ expectations, teachers must begin asking different kinds of questions than most of those suggested in the teacher’s editions of the popular basal readers. Since most districts lack money for new textbooks, or their states are not yet scheduled to adopt new ones, the two organizations decided to bring educators together to write new questions for their current materials. The new Basal Alignment Project aims to build a free, online repository that will include a bank of teacher-written questions and tasks that are more “text-dependent” than those suggested by the publishers; that is, they require students to dig back into their readings to respond to the questions. To access these resources, sign up and use code ‘etuyrm’ to join BAP group.
The American Federation of Teachers, with Britain's TES Connect, have introduced "Share My Lesson," which will become the largest online community for U.S. teachers to collaborate and share teaching resources and innovative ideas, with a significant emphasis on resources to guide teachers in implementing the new Common Core State Standards.
America Achieves is a non-profit organization that seeks to shine a spotlight on successful educators and programs, distill lessons learned and the evidence base, and support promising state and local efforts that drive large-scale improvements in education and outcomes for young people. A video module on this site exemplify the key shifts that the Common Core is bringing to pedagogy in classrooms across the United States.