The Common Core State Standards

Louisiana Department of Education states, “The Common Core State Standards are fundamental descriptions of reading, writing, and math skills that focus on the ability to think independently.” (LDOE) Common Core State Standards hold students across the country to the same high bar and allow Louisiana students to see how they perform compared to students across America. “State school chiefs and governors recognized the value of consistent, real-world learning goals and launched this effort to ensure all students, regardless of where they live, are graduating high school prepared for college, career, and life.” (Corestandard.org) Prior to adopting these standards, Louisiana students were learning material that was sometimes even a full year behind several high-performing states. The Common Core State Standard asks students to engage in independent thinking skills such as comparing and contrasting and analyzing characters. Nearing the end of the school year, “Students are tested annually English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies in 3rd through 8th grades. The assessments measure whether each student has gained the knowledge and skills in the subject for their grade.” Students learning will be measured by the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers). Students in grades 3rd through 8th grades will be assessed on the full range of the Common Core State Standards to ensure they are “on track” or “ready” for college and

In 2010 majority of the states in the U.S. adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These new standards were built on the best of high-quality math standards from states across the country. They also draw on the most important international models for mathematical practice, as well as research and input from numerous sources, including state departments of education, scholars, assessment developers, professional organizations, educators, parents and students, and members of the public. The CCSS provide clarity and specificity rather than broad general statements. The CCSS stress conceptual understanding of key ideas, but also by continually returning to organizing principles such as place value and the laws of arithmetic to structure

As our society develops and evolves over time many aspects of our lives change and we find ourselves trying to adapt to new changes. One of the major changes that we have seen over the course of the years is the advancement in technology. We have come along way in many aspects of technology such as wireless internet and we now find ourselves using modern smartphones rather the flip phones. In addition to our technology evolving over time so has the education system in the United States. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has been one of the biggest changes in the United States education system in recent

There are several groups that advise on what should be taught, and therefore what is in the National

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a widely debatable topic. Parents, teachers, administration, and even states have taken a stance on what they believe. CCSS is a document created by researchers, teachers, administration, and even the public, stating exactly what each student in grades K-12 should be accomplishing by the end of each level. It is ideally in place for teachers to have a clear understanding of what students are expected to achieve and know by each benchmark test so they can ensure this readiness. Though much thought and exertion has gone into the production and implementation of these standards, many myths have been formulated from them, causing the standards to sound as if they do not have any advantage to our schools (“Understanding the Common Core”).

In the last six years a new standards system has been created for high school students in order to help them prepare for college classes; this system is the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The Common Core system, developed in 2009, addresses both mathematics and English language arts. It creates a system of standards that map out skills and abilities from grades K-12 that need to be focused upon in order for students to be successful in the future.

Common Core State Standards, often referred to as the Common Core, are requirements in English and Mathematics in grades kindergarten through twelve. Specific focus is on critical thinking and problem solving skills. The Common Core was formed through a joint initiative by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association. To better prepare students for college courses, the standards are implemented in forty-five states and the District of Columbia. Concerns of American schoolchildren, like lacking focus, have shown that students are not learning skills to be used in the general workforce. An accountability system of the Common Core is based on the success of academic standards, advancement of tests based on

Teaching higher order thinking skills is not a recent need. It is apparent that students, at all levels of education, are lagging in problem-solving and thinking skills. Fragmentation of thinking skills, however, may be the result of critical thinking courses and texts. Every course, especially in content subjects, students should be taught to think logically, analyze and compare, question and evaluate.

When looking over the Loveless article, the paper seemed to have a very negative view of the Common Core State Standard. The part that was most interesting to me throughout the reading was when Loveless referred to the furthering of teacher development with the Common Core Standard. The article was very persuasive for someone who had not known a great deal about the Common Core and led me to believe that it was not a helpful tool to the teaching community. Nonetheless, once I did some deeper research I found myself taking a different approach then Loveless did in his article. I believe that through the Common Core Standards teachers will become superior teachers through changing teaching styles, implementing mentoring programs, and providing ongoing support.

In education field, it is hard to know if all claims are credible and it is not so easy to assess good research. Curiosity and expertise will be helpful to to decide if you can trust the educational change that has been offered. Science can answer many questions, but not all of them.

As pre-service teachers it is important to keep up to date with the standards and how they can affect our cooperating teacher's students as well as our own future students. It is never too early to start learning information that will improve your ability to increase your ability to teach students better in the long run. Also with all the changes going on with Common Core, it is ever changing and thusly even more important to keep up to date with because these are the guides to which we will be building our lessons upon in the future and really even now. Understanding the Common Core is also a good idea because they can be confusing and starting early gives us a better chance at being able to use them in an effective was in the future by understanding

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a set of academic standards in Mathematics and English language arts. The standards are an outline of what students should be able to do at the end of each school year. These standards began as a goal to standardized learning objectives across the country, so students everywhere receive the same education no matter where they live and to close the achievement gap (Funk & Wagnalls, 2015). They apply to grades K through twelve. The achievement gap is widely criticized for being in favor for white students, because they have access to higher quality of schools- even in public schools. Poverty stricken schools are filled with poverty stricken children. This is partially because of location and districts, and other reasons, such as money. Children with families of higher income can afford a higher education, or live in a higher end county- which means higher end schools and districts. This eliminates learning gaps between state public schools by applying uniform expectations; this way if a student chooses to go into a college out of state there will be no worries concerning entry knowledge levels. The standards are outlined on the Common Core website as:

Like an epidemic terrorizing the western hemisphere, the Common Core State Standards program has swept across our nation, and at each stop, threatened a new way of thinking and living. These standards were created to ensure that more students graduated from high school with the skills to succeed in college, life, and career, no matter where they might live (About the Standards). In 2009, this fresh new take on education was launched to each state’s educational leaders in the U. S. The state officials each decided whether the implementation of the program was beneficial for them, or if the technique they were currently using was the best option. However, even though state authorities have control of their individual educational standards,

The federal government’s way of making the country’s students more knowledgeable, easier to compare between states and are proficient in literacy and math is by having states adopt Common Core Standards. These are high standards that will elevate the students’ ability to become critical thinkers instead of the memorizers that the current generation of students are. Since this is a new system the transition to them will be bumpy and at times frustrating, to make this transition better for students and teachers alike teachers need to have workshops and lectures on the standards during the summer, there needs to be a waiver for all school for the next three years so that students have time to adjust to the new computer based assessment test, a

Critical thinking and problem solving is the first skill he recommends as ‘No Child Left Behind’ act in the States, the pressure on teachers is to prepare students to take multiple-choice type tests, test strategies and