New York Schools Chief Advocates More Balanced Literacy Essay

For this reason, careful research and understanding of what the standards are asking educators to teach is required. Houck (2008) informs balanced literacy is a combination of teaching methods and strategies involving both whole language and skill development. Used correctly, balanced literacy has the potential to meet the needs of all students at their own individual level. All components of reading, including phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, speaking and listening, and writing are taught using this framework. Balanced literacy provides instruction by various methods. The use of read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, word study, and writing are all used to provide students with a release of responsibility model in which they go from guided to independent work (Frey, 2005). The need for all components of reading to work together in order for comprehension to take place makes balanced literacy an instructional reform plan worth implementing (Beringer & Abbott, 2010).

Supporters claim that treating all students equally will level the playing field, allowing more opportunities for students. Because the curriculum is universal, students’ parents could theoretically pick up and move anywhere in the US and be confident in the fact that their children are not confused or falling behind in school. However, it is just the opposite. The Common Core standards have confused students and their parents through the new methods of computation, writing, and reading. With the percentage of students who move out of state being less than 2%, it is irrational to bind the United’s State’s education system to benefit such a small number of students. Common Core is hard to understand by students and parents alike and only benefits “philanthrocapitalists” (Toscano).

The article started by mentioning that the common core have come under severe criticism by early childhood education experts. Those experts say that the common cores are not developmentally appropriate for students; and so as the American federation of teacher’s president’s Randi Weingarten, which also called for revamping of these early education standards. Weingarten called the early childhood expert Nancy Carlsson for the Defending the Early Years. Defending the Early Years, a non-profit project of the Survival Education Fund, was created to help students, parents, and teacher understand why the common care states standards are not inappropriate for kid, third grade. The document also helped teachers and parents advocate against Common Core State Standards CCSS, and promote rules and in class practices that can best help meet children’s’ needs.

Common Core educational programs have been showing up in primary schools all throughout the nation in the past decade; educators and legislators alike saw the need for standardized skill sets among primary school children. Many people will agree that training in certain areas of arithmetic, English and grammar, and history are crucial for success in the modern economy. Despite this agreement, there is an ever-growing divide between parents and legislators on whether or not the programs are helping, or hurting these children.

Some advocates of Common Core insist that Common Core is “not a curriculum” and that it will promulgate “an academic curriculum based on great works of Western civilization and the American republic.”  But the standards are being used to write the tables of contents for all the textbooks used in K-12 math and English classes. This may not technically constitute a curriculum, but it certainly defines what children will be taught, especially when they and their teachers will be judged by performance on national tests that are aligned with these standards.

The current sanctions placed on the York City School District by the Pennsylvania Department of Education have intrigued me since the day I started working at Jackson Elementary there three years ago. YCSD ranked 490th out of 496th school districts in the state of Pennsylvania in 2015. Last school year they did not improve as expected, according to the latest reports just released by the State Department of Education. The district has some goals to meet, which include cutting in half the gap between the district’s reading and math Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores and the state average, as well as cutting the gap between the district’s third grade reading scores and the state average.

I enjoyed our conversation about the Common Core literacy standards. I cannot overstate the importance of working to ensure that all teachers have the skills necessary to identify literature and informal text with the appropriate text complexity. The Common Core standards assume that students are

Balanced Literacy provides the foundational structure and scheduling for delivering the North Carolina English Language Arts curriculum in kindergarten through eighth grades. Balanced literacy along with our scope and sequence defined in our pacing guides enhance vertical and horizontal

The state of California is one of the many states that have adapted the controversial Common Core curriculum standards. This new curriculum involves a different style of teaching that aims towards better thinking, and problem-solving. Although the Time admires this new system, they question the results of the standardized tests. Given that this curriculum is relatively new, the Times is doesn’t believe these scores would truly reflect whether or not the curriculum is a good one.

However, polls also show that since 1996, people have become less willing to pay higher taxes in an effort to support urban schools, despite having acknowledged that lack of financial support is the biggest issue facing urban schools (Bushaw 10). Many feel that the implementation of Common Core Standards will drastically alter the quality of education being received by urban youth. Common Core is a program that established a nationwide curriculum and standard for educating the nation’s students grades Kindergarten through 12. Theoretically, this program will work and help advance education on a national scale. However, like the people of the United States, it’s schools are very eclectic, and must cater to a diverse group of students. The practices of a teacher in a successful Virginia school will likely not be as effective for a teacher in Detroit considering the vast differences in those school district’s financial support, regulation on class size, disciplinary measures, and parental involvement. Ultimately, Common Core standards are going to help some places, and may hurt others, which will only widen the education and achievement gap in the nation. Unique environmental aspects of education must be considered before the enforcement of such standards.

In his article, Sizer first sets the stage by describing the similarities among American high schools. He articulates that the similarities in the system are so solid that a student moving schools, even across the nation, would be in the same academic situation as they left and would only “lose few steps.” Sizer continues by claiming that at least four properties can characterize American public literacy: it is centrally driven, usually for merchandising purposes; it is commercial; it simplifies, synthesizes, unifies, and focuses; and lastly, literacy is sophisticated. By starting his article with his observations of American public literacy, Sizer introduces and backs the issue. Sizer does not offer suggestions for change. Instead, he begins to ask carefully chosen questions which provoke his audience to ponder their own answers.

Literacy is a fundamental basis of a student’s academic success. Without the skills of language, reading, and writing, children will have limited academic, economic, social, and emotional success in school and later in life (Maddox & Fung, 2013, p.3). According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 33% of U.S. students in elementary schools read below the basic reading level (NAEP, 2009). During this time, the Common Core initiative was in works to ensure that all students across America were graduating high school ready for college, career, and life. In 2010, a majority of the United States adopted the Common Core State Standards [CCSS]. Within these expectations the language, reading, and writing strands were developed for all grade levels. These three strands were developed to prepare children to become literate. The CCSS are the most effective way to implement goals for literacy education, for American students to succeed not only in school, but in the future.

There are many obstacles that could stand in the way of a student at the age of five accomplishing the goal of being academically prepared for the first grade. Some kindergarteners will enter a classroom for the first time ever, meanwhile others have been a part of the structured environment of pre-school since they were infants. All of these students will be required to balance their reading using informational textbooks and literary books, when some have been offered little instruction with reading at all. Therefore, would this give each and every student an equal beginning for advancement to the next grade or would some be left behind? Is there enough guidance from the CCSS for teachers to be successful in the classroom with every student regardless of their educational or lack of educational background? It is my opinion that Kindergarten should remain a transitional phase unless adequate guidance is given to the teachers that would help all children. Without guidance, achieving the goals set out by the CCSS, the task would be very challenging for educators. Nevertheless, the balance of types of texts has proven to be necessary and can definitely be achieved (McLaughlin and Overturf).

A great discussion between a former professors, reiterated me of the importance of keeping up with current trends which continue to support the natural way we learn every day. The area of language arts continues to experience changes with the growth in bilingual education. Children in our classroom continue to grow by listening, speaking, reading and writing. Professionals diligently guided many of us prekindergarten through fifth grade teachers at North Bridge Elementary in a programs utilized to continue to contribute to the development of language arts in the early childhood of many youngsters in South Texas. My first summer of in service in 2007, I was encouraged to obtain hours or credit in the area of special needs, gifted and talented training, and recalled bilingual students being part of this population, one would serve for many years to come. Not realizing this would lead to a commitment in my part to a program I used in many ways, Balanced Literacy, not to only service gifted and talented children, but mostly for my recent immigrant students as well. Like most programs, or curriculums, it entailed many hours, man power, setbacks and ultimately, achievements. I, along with many other elementary teachers, struggled to make this a resource which, if given time and consistency, guided our students to

One of the most significant and prevalent changes seen in education is the implementation of a standard curriculum. Prior to this effort there were many ineffective practices that occurred within the nation’s schools. According to Girod, G.R., & Girod, M (n.d.), there was a time that students were measured on such things as a spelling test. If you spelled a certain number of words correctly you were considered a good speller, but did that mean you actually understood the context of the word or was it just memorization? Although there is much debate as to whether or not standard curriculum is fair to all students given different learning styles and aptitudes, in this paper I will go over the some of the important factors and benefits in implementing a standard curriculum. I will also go over how one district in Tempe does exactly this.