Common Core Standards

The proposed common academic standards, which included the participation of 48 states, will be released to the public today. After October 21st, the math and language arts standards will be reviewed by a soon to be chosen validation committee.

According to Gene Wilhoit of the CCSSO,

“You’ll find greater consistency across both documents,” Gene Wilhoit, the CCSSO's executive director, said of the new draft. “Our sense is we were able to hold onto our goal.”

Although an earlier draft of the document was released in July of this year, there have since been significant changes in the language arts standards.

The language arts document is divided into three sections. One section presents presents “strands” of skills for reading, writing, and speaking and listening. A second discusses how those skills should be applied in conducting research or using various media.

The third section presents supporting materials, or “illustrative texts.” Those reading materials are meant to serve as “exemplars”—texts with a level of complexity students should be able to handle, to be ready for college or the workplace.

The earlier draft included just four illustrative texts: portions of the Declaration of Independence, a short story by Katherine Mansfield, a science text, and a sample business memo.

According to Chris Minnich, the CCSSO's director of standards,

The most significant alteration [in math], Mr. Minnich said, may have been establishing a new standard, called “mathematical practice,” defined in the document as the ways in which “proficient students approach mathematics.” The draft also includes 10 separate standards for math content, or “organizing principles” in the subject, which include numbers, equations, probability, and statistics. The authors concluded that mathematical practice—generally defined as the thinking, habits, and strategies used by students to solve problems—was important enough to be singled out, Mr. Minnich said.

The proposed math-standards document cites research on the curricula of high-performing countries that shows those nations’ schools focus on fewer topics than U.S. schools. It also notes that college math faculty have called for high school courses that do not just “survey advanced topics” but also encourage students to probe content in greater depth.

Spurred on by President Obama's proposal to give federal aid to states that adopt the common standards, states are taking this process very seriously.

As they write and revise the standards, CCSSO and NGA officials have said they are being guided by a search for the best available evidence of what works in math and language arts, rather than by unsupported opinion. To that end, drafts of the Common Core standards so far have included references to studies and standards from the United States and abroad.

You can read the full text of the article here.