EDUCATION: Common Core standards to change way teachers teach

August 02, 2013 05:45 PM PDT August 03, 2013 11:18 AM PDT EDUCATION: Common Core standards to change way teachers teach EDUCATION: Common Core standards to change way teachers teach DAYNA STRAEHLEY/STAFF PHOTO Eastvale Elementary School first-grader Kyle Kirschenmann writes a word from his phonics book on a Post-it Note during a phonics lesson. Classmate Jackson Cromartie, left, folds his hands to show teacher Erin Motto that he's done while classmate Rebecca Bertelsen reads her phonics book. 1 WEBLINK www.corestandards.org State Standards Initiative Inland students and those across most of the nation will be expected to read more complex materials, write more nonfiction and understand lessons more deeply as teachers start using new classroom expectations. At the end of 2014-15, state tests reflecting the changes will move from No. 2 pencils and Scantron sheets to computers, keyboards and touch-screens. The education overhaul is coming as California puts into place the new expectations, called the Common Core State Standards. The standards are so named because they were created by states across the nation as a "common" set of expectations. The goal is to better prepare all students for both college and careers. California's old standards were sometimes criticized as a mile wide and an inch deep. Expectations were also too low, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young has said. Many recent high school graduates nationwide need remedial math, English or both when the get to college. Job-training programs now often require similar math and English skills as college professors expect. High school graduates also have to read and understand their car insurance and other contracts, said Joe Balleweg, an administrator in Temecula Attorney Valley Unified School District working on the new standards. "We have to teach differently," Balleweg said. "It's reasserting exactly what public education is for. It's to be citizens of the world." Inland schools are starting the switch to the new standards already. Many teachers have been trained in the new standards, which replace those adopted in California in 1997, and are already changing how they teach. The old California Standards Tests will still be given next spring. Education will become more challenging and expect more of all students, said Karen Parris, spokeswoman for Murrieta Valley Unified School District. 'ENERGIZED' TEACHERS Kindergarten and first-grade teachers at six year-round schools in Corona-Norco Unified School District already are teaching the new lessons, said Linda White, assistant to the superintendent. Some Corona-Norco teachers, at schools that receive extra federal money for low-income students, recently finished retraining and will start some changes when school starts Wednesday, Aug. 7. So far, students are rising to the higher expectations, said first-grade teacher Erin Motto at Eastvale Elementary School, where Principal Michelle Derus called Motto a Common Core pioneer. "We underestimated their abilities when we used to spoon feed them," Motto said. Motto has been eagerly changing her lesson plans with the new standards in mind. Before, most teachers were told they should expect only their advanced students to use critical thinking skills. They spent time on test-taking strategies, even in first grade. "Now we have everyone thinking at a higher level," Motto said. "It demands everyone do it, from our lowest to the highest (students)." Students are more interested and involved in the lessons now that she makes them figure out answers before explaining everything, she said. For example, during a phonics lesson last week, students figured out how to group words in categories based on vowel sounds. Then the class reviewed the words and categories together. "Our teachers are energized," White said. The Riverside County Office of Education and most districts have been busy training teachers this summer, Instructional Services Director Mike Barney said. Many will go back to schools and help colleagues switch to the new standards. The county spent last year helping district leaders understand the new standards before training principals and teachers. The standards cover each grade level and flow from grade to grade better than the old ones, said Barbara Wolfinbarger, administrative director for elementary curriculum and instruction in Corona-Norco. Creators of Common Core weren't sure they could get more than a dozen states to sign on to adopt the new expectations. Then the U.S. Department of Education made them a condition for Race to the Top grants and waivers from No Child Left Behind, which requires all students to be proficient at grade level in English and math by 2014. Now, 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the new standards. MUCH REMAINS SAME Not everything will be different with the new standards, Balleweg said. Most California students will still take algebra in eighth grade, though many states using Common Core don't require the subject until ninth grade, Parris said. Fourth-graders will still learn California history and may still make models of California missions. Basic literacy and mathematics are still required, Balleweg said. However, the new standards bring a greater focus on using the three R's to solve what he called real-world problems. Examples include a math question in which students calculate the most efficient shape for a pen for a farmer raising sheep. Other math questions will ask students to develop business plans. Also, students may not be assigned as many math equations to solve for homework. Instead, they may have fewer, more complex problems to solve. MORE DEPTH Teachers had so much to cover in each grade under the old standards, that some lectured during much of their class time to fit it all in, Balleweg said. Now, students won't be required to merely regurgitate facts they memorized, but to analyze and use the information, he said. And they will write more, in every subject, not just English language arts classes. Fewer topics will be covered in greater depth. Students will be assigned reading to find information they need. They will learn strategies to find information in difficult texts, he said. "We can't just hand our students difficult documents," Balleweg said. Assignments will include reading articles and watching a video from different sources, evaluating the authors' points of view and writing an argument on why they support or oppose a viewpoint. They will have to use evidence from what they read to justify their position, Balleweg said. LITERATURE REMAINS Some have criticized the new standards. One criticism is that Shakespeare and other classic literature will be neglected in favor of short articles and nonfiction. Balleweg said these works will be included. California's English language arts classes have been so focused on literature, that students have trouble writing a nonfiction report. Common Core will require that by 11th grade, 70 percent of what students read and write is nonfiction. That time commitment should be met over the whole school day, meaning students will read and write in social studies, science, math and other classes, not just in English language arts, Balleweg said. "English (classes) will still have novels and poems and short stories, but also articles, essays and workplace documents," he said. Follow Dayna Straehley on Twitter: @dstraehley_PE and watch for her posts on the Inland Schools blog: http://blog.pe.com/category/education/ COMMON CORE WHAT IT IS: A set of challenging academic standards, or expectations, created to better prepare students to compete and succeed in college and the workplace. HOW IT WILL BE EVALUATED: Students will take quizzes and tests to help guide teachers' instruction and tell them what students learned and need to learn. New standardized tests in spring 2014-15 will replace old ones and measure student achievement. INFORMATION: http://assessmentsforcommoncore.com, http://www.corestandards.org, http://www.smarterbalanced.org SOURCE: MURRIETA VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT AND McGRAW HILL EDUCATION CHALLENGING STUDENTS
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