Chapter 1

Exploring Common Core's Roots

In This Chapter

Grasping the rhyme and reason behind the Common Core Standards

Following the development of the standards

Tracking adoption and implementation

As I write this chapter, 45 states and the District of Columbia are in the process of implementing the Common Core Standards, representing one of the most widespread education reform movements in the history of public education in the United States. As a parent, you probably have lots of questions about these standards, including what they are, why they're important, and what impact they're likely to have on teachers and students. These questions are at the center of a growing discussion about education in the United States. As more states enter the final stages of implementation and more schools send home information about the Common Core Standards, more and more parents have unanswered questions.

In this chapter, I field some of those general questions. I explain the motivation and purpose for developing the Common Core Standards, discuss their history from birth to the present, and discuss how states are progressing in adopting the standards and implementing them in schools. With this background information at hand, you have a much better understanding of what the standards are, why they're being adopted, and where to go from here. This chapter prepares you for a more thorough discussion, in subsequent chapters, of what's in the standards and what you can do, as a parent, to help your child or teen achieve the standards.

Understanding the Rationale

The first question you may have is, “Why do we need new standards to begin with?” Year after year, studies show that a vast majority of students are ill-prepared academically to move on to college or secure employment with businesses that require a highly skilled workforce.

The motivation behind the development of the Common Core Standards is grounded in the idea that higher academic standards in schools, from kindergarten through high school, are likely to produce students who are better prepared to take on the challenges of a post-secondary education or a challenging and rewarding career directly out of high school.

Recognizing the standards

The Common Core Standards set consistent and clear expectations for what students must know at the completion of each grade from kindergarten through high school. The standards establish expectations in three academic areas:

• Mathematics: The Common Core Standards for mathematics focus on gaining essential understanding to help students acquire a deeper knowledge of only the most important concepts and develop the skills to tackle mathematical problems in the real world. The standards call on students to develop deeper knowledge and higher-level skills in each successive grade, so it's vitally important that students get a handle on the material covered in each grade before advancing to a higher grade level.
• English language arts (ELA): The ELA standards are structured to build foundational literacy skills in early grades and to continue to equip students with reading and writing skills as they progress into middle and high school. The standards gradually increase in complexity from grade to grade, so pay special attention to the additional concepts and skills added from one grade to the next.
• Literacy: The literacy standards establish reading and writing expectations for students in social studies, science, and technology. These standards provide few specifics on what students need to read or write, focusing instead on how students should read and write in these courses and how to evaluate what qualifies as good writing.

Recognizing the goals

The Common Core Standards address the shortcomings and build upon the strengths of current state standards. Governors, education officials, and educators who developed the Common Core Standards had several goals in mind, including the following:

• Raise the bar for students in Grades K–12. Higher academic standards represent higher expectations for student learning. Higher rigor and demand in classrooms increase the likelihood that more students will master essential skills and concepts in math, reading, and writing that will prepare them for success when they move to the next grade or course or on to college or a career.
• Clarify expectations for students, teachers, and parents. Inconsistent, complicated standards are difficult for everyone to understand and follow, from school administrators and teachers to parents and students. Common Core Standards are intended to be consistent and clear, so everyone involved in the learning process can collaborate on meeting expectations.

  As you find out more about Common Core Standards, you're likely to hear the phrase “fewer, clearer, and higher” used to describe the first two goals on this list.

• Standardize benchmarks for academic achievement across all 50 states. Major discrepancies in the expectations of student performance from state to state make it difficult to determine which states are doing the best job of preparing students for college or career. Having the same benchmarks for students across state lines helps ensure that students from different states are being held to similar standards of academic achievement.
• Ensure that all students are prepared for college or career. One of the fundamental goals of all schools is preparing students to pursue their goals after they graduate from high school, whether they enter college or the workforce. This isn't something that just happens in Grade 12 or even in high school. College and career readiness is the outcome of an effective education in kindergarten through Grade 12. This is why higher, more-consistent standards are important at all grade levels.
• Communicate real-world expectations. Connecting what students are asked to do in school to the demands of the real world is a difficult job, but it's vital to making sure that students understand what's required of them when they go to college or get a job. The skills and concepts taught in schools need to be the same skills and concepts students use in higher learning or the job market.

Without high academic standards that outline the knowledge and skills students need in math, English, and reading and writing in other subjects, few students are ready to tackle college or a career after they graduate from high school.

Higher standards or not?

Critics of the Common Core Standards believe that the standards are less rigorous than the current standards in some states and also fail to meet the benchmarks set by some international education systems. However, a study conducted by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in 2010, “The State of State Standards,” found that the Common Core Standards for mathematics were more rigorous than the standards in 39 states. The remaining states had standards in mathematics similar in rigor to the Common Core Standards. The same report found that only California, Indiana, and the District of Columbia had English language arts standards that were more demanding than the Common Core Standards.

Tracing Common Core's History

The push for common standards shared by multiple states isn't new. Conversations about “common” or “national” standards have been a significant part of the public discussion on education for several decades. However, efforts to agree on a common set of standards for state departments of education and, as a result, local school districts have often been sidetracked by concerns that the federal government would become overly involved.

In the following sections, I describe the hurdles and the history of attempts to standardize measures of academic achievement.

Identifying the barriers

Efforts under the administrations of President George H. W. Bush and President Bill Clinton to establish common standards among the states failed because of a few key issues:

• State leaders want to retain oversight. In general, each state has a department of education, although the name sometimes varies from state to state. Among other things, the departments of education oversee education policy, administer statewide assessments, distribute federal and state funding, and monitor compliance with state and federal laws. State lawmakers, policymakers, and leaders oversee a majority of the decisions relating to education. Differences of opinion over what's best for students and a desire to remain competitive with other states have made agreeing on national reforms very difficult.
• Educators want to maintain local control over curriculum. Some teachers and parents feel threatened by standards because they see standards as the government's attempt to dictate curriculum. They don't realize that standards dictate only what students need to know upon completion of each grade level. Curriculum choices, including which materials are used to teach certain subjects in each grade, are still left up to schools and districts. However, fears of government overreach are still a barrier for some people.

  As I explain in Chapter 2, Common Core Standards don't dictate curriculum — how teachers teach and the specific materials they use to help their students meet the expectations outlined by the standards. The...