Educators: Common Core will aid student learning

    The debate over the new set of educational standards known as Common Core is heating up as math standards are being applied in the classroom this year. Several hundred parents marched on the state capitol in Baton Rouge Sept. 28 in protest of the implementation in Louisiana, one of 45 states to adopt the standards.
    What exactly is Common Core, and why do parents have concerns about it?
     Common Core State Standards were actually developed in 2007 by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers after researching educational standards in the United States and abroad and using college and business data to determine high-school student readiness for college and careers.
    “What they discovered is that we were a mile wide (in range of material taught) but only an inch deep (in the depth of understanding) to which we taught,” Presentation Sister Dale McDonald, director of Public Policy and Education Research for the National Catholic Educational Association. “American students were not qualified to do or compete with individuals from other countries in high-tech jobs. … While American students were exposed to concepts asked on the tests, they didn’t have enough grasp of a concept to use in different situations.”
    Common Core standards change that by getting teachers to delve deeper into concepts. This helps students develop higher-order thinking skills, thus giving them the ability to apply what they learn to real-life situations, not just to answer a question on a test.
    More than 100 dioceses across the United States have embraced Common Core standards. Most schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans are instituting Common Core standards in math only this year, but some are beginning to apply the standards to English/Language Arts. The change here involves introducing more non-fiction works to create readiness for college texts.
Delving deeper
    Sister Dale gave an example of how a seventh-grade reading assignment might change. Instead of reading one passage, discussing and writing about it, Common Core challenges students by having them read several texts and comparing, contrasting and interpreting them.
    “Our goal is to have analytical and higher-leveling skills, which is what we have always done and embrace,” said Dr. Jan Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. “Our schools, for years, have picked guides to achieve higher-level thinking skills and to best prepare our students. This is one of the guides we chose to use.”
    Sister Dale said she’s found that there is a misconception about what standards are and what curriculum is. Standards are about what students are learning. For example, in Common Core English/Language Arts, the standards are on higher-level thinking. What teachers give students to read relates to curriculum.
    “And that’s the teacher’s decision, not the state or the federal government,” she said. “That means, in Catholic schools, a teacher may choose a document from Vatican II, instead of suggested material from Common Core. It is the suggested textbook material for non-fiction reading given by Common Core that is causing concerns from parents. But, schools and teachers can choose to use the suggestions or not. The materials used are determined at the local level, and that will not change.”
Congruent with faith
    Dr. Rebecca Maloney, associate superintendent for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said people have the misconception that Common Core standards are not congruent with our Catholic faith and will diminish the morals and Catholicity of our Catholic schools by using textbooks adopted by the state.
    “In Catholic schools, we have the ability to pick and choose the material we feel is acceptable,” Maloney said. “The introduction of Common Core standards in no way diminishes or jeopardizes our Catholic faith. We have a Catholic curriculum that is faith-based.”
Not a federal ‘Big Brother’
    Another concern floating around is that Common Core is an attempt by the federal government to take over education nationwide.
    “Government didn’t write the standards, and they are not picking the curriculum,” Sister Dale insists. “Local schools are looking at the standards they are using, the Common Core standards and then making a decision to either use what they have, adopt Common Core standards as written or a blend of the two.”
    “We are not federally mandated and do not get federal money for Common Core,” Maloney said.
    “The federal government has never wanted to run education and is not giving states money to participate,” said Brian Riedlinger, School Leadership Center of Greater New Orleans chief executive officer, a 20-year principal in the New Orleans public school system and State Principal of the Year in 1999.
Diminishing education?
    By taking more time to go deeper into material, some parents are concerned that it will “dumb-down” the curriculum.
    Maloney and Dr. RaeNell Houston, also an associate superintendent, said Common Core standards are “minimum learning targets” for local Catholic schools. They have been visiting schools throughout the archdiocese answering questions from parents and educators about Common Core. This past summer, they spearheaded professional development for teachers on Common Core math standards.
    “In absolutely no way, shape or form is it watering down the curriculum,” Houston said. “The majority of states didn’t always go with best practices (in educational standards).” Common Core standards are actually higher than previous state grade-level expectations, they said.
    Houston and Maloney said the biggest change is that students will be learning concepts more fully, which might be a challenge to some. But in the end, students will be come “better thinkers and problem solvers for it,” Houston said.
    A pilot study using Common Core math standards at select schools in the archdiocese proved this to be true, although it was initially challenging for teachers to develop lesson plans using Common Core – due to not initially having Common Core-aligned resources or textbooks in hand.
    “They loved the fact that kids were thinking critically in kindergarten and first grade because that’s how they were taught initially,” Maloney said.
‘Standards’ are not new
    Sister Dale, who has 50 years of educational experience, said standards are not new.
    “Almost every diocese has used standards and used the state standards and then added the Catholic pieces to it and that will continue,” she said. The Archdiocese of New Orleans has had standards in place since the 1990s, Maloney and Houston said.
    Riedlinger also said that parents shouldn’t be concerned about Common Core standards because states have always had skill benchmarks for each grade level. From what he’s seen about Common Core, Riedlinger said it helps focus skills with slightly less content yet deeper coverage. And the assessment focus is high-order thinking to improve thinking.    
    “The world has become so small, and we now compete with China and France rather than other states,” Riedlinger said. “Common Core is a set of national standards with national assessments so states can see how they are doing on an apple-to-apple basis.”
    “Common Core standards really set a high mark, and it’s the kind of mark students have to reach if they are going to live and work in this global world,” Sister Dale said.
    Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.