The Common Core: What Is The Question To Ask?

by Victor Jaccarino

Since I retired from Herricks four years ago, I have been working as an educational consultant in a variety of schools in New York State. When I meet people for the first time and they ask what I do now that I am retired, I tell them that I am working in schools to help teachers and administrators align instruction with the common core. The reaction is not always positive. I find their reluctance to accept the common core as a means to a successful end difficult to negotiate. They often repeat what they read or hear in the media. I explain that the Common Core Standards is not a curriculum; the word test never appears in the document; there is no list of required books, and that the common core says nothing about teacher evaluation. So what is wrong with the common core? The question should be how do we use the common core to improve student understanding of all the subjects we teach in our schools.

In schools that are successful in common core implementation, teachers in all subjects participate in workshops. They develop lessons that promote critical thinking by engaging every student. They promote collaboration in the classroom through structured conversations and formative assessments. They elevate their own vocabulary and expect students to do the same. They work together with colleagues and administrators to improve student understanding of all the learning that takes place in a school. They use best practices to promote critical thinking and inquiry. 

A story: A principal of a school on the east end of Long Island asked me to meet with him to formulate a plan for his building. He wanted all students in his school to come to the table with the skills necessary to draw conclusions, make connections among the various subjects studied, and yes, get higher test scores in all areas of study. We developed a plan for that first year. Three years later, I am still working in that school. This week that principal presented me with two volumes titled: Model Lessons: Integrating Literacy Strategies. Each teacher in his school contributed a lesson to the booklet. He included the following in his introduction: “We rarely have the opportunity to see each other teach and practice new strategies and tactics. To help overcome that structural problem, you will find here some great ideas for future lessons: innovative models of inventive approaches from all subject area teachers in our own school – with different teaching styles and different classroom personalities. How did this principal get to this place? He worked for three years on building a common core environment in all subject areas for all teachers and students. 

Self promotion: If you would like to learn more about how to build such an environment in your school, join me and a panel of administrators on August 25 at Eastern Suffolk BOCES.

Click below to learn more or to register.

Creating and Promoting a Common Core Culture Across the Grades and ...