Challenges of the Common Core

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Challenges of the Common Core

• Will the standards shape who we are
• Or, will we shape the standards ?

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Hi, Cathy and Barbara!

• Just thought I'd connect to start us thinking
  about a few discussion questions for our panel
  discussion about the Core. What do you think
  about considering what faces us as department
  heads and veteran teachers as we Make
  decisions as to how to communicate with
  administrators Lead our departments Select
  texts ( and budget) Mentor new teachers
  Report assessment data and Reach out to the
  community? I will bet just a "what is on your
  mind?" kind of question will get us going, but
  if we have a few talking points we'll have a
  lively conversation. Maybe we could ask for
  specific responses from each NE state, or each
  school level. We could also ask for people to
  suggest resources on the Ning in a discussion,
  perhaps. It was good to talk to you today,
  Barbara, and we missed you at the table, Cathy.
  Wachuset was beautiful all day long! Take
  care, Liz

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Hi Ladies

• Sorry to have missed what must have been a
  lovely day. Liz, I like your questions as
  they'll ground us. Something that I have
  encountered in my new home is a lack of
  experience with standards, period. They have not
  worked with state standards let alone the Common
  Core which leads me to wonder if that is true of
  other districts.
• Maybe the starting place for the discussion is to
  figure out where people are in terms of using
  standards. For those of us used to using state
  standards to design curriculum and instruction,
  the switch to CC will not be as difficult. For
  those who are not used to it, it may be more
  traumatic. Does that make sense? My question
  is How are folks using their standards now?
  Take care- Cathy

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Dear Liz and Cathy--

• Sorry for the delay in responding to these
  e-mails.  I've been up to my eyeballs in the new
  red tape of education--doing SMART goals and
  setting up an electronic grade book.  I am also
  doing a Proficiency Based Graduation handbook for
  a new charter school in Providence.  Not to
  mention getting the final draft of the NEATE
  program out the door.  Whooo!  Okay, a have a
  breath.
• Anyway, looking at both of your discussions, I
  feel that, Liz, your questions are very
  applicable to what is taking place across New
  England, and Cathy, how many of us are in the
  dark.  How are we going to address the Common
  Core in our classrooms on top of new evaluation
  systems the "fear" that our student performance
  and achievement levels will affect our job
  security.  The climate and culture of our schools
  is changing dramatically, from Race to the Top
  grants driving what we do in our classrooms, to
  Common Core, which seems to be another
  prescription, another panacea, to cure the ills
  of the alleged failures in public education.  An
  open and frank conversation will unite teachers
  across the New England states, and perhaps create
  a solidarity and a real community to keep the
  discussions going and to continue offering
  support for each other--perhaps using the NING as
  our discussion board.  For those with questions,
  there will be those of us with answers.

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Continued

• Right now, we are being bombarded with top down
  management agendas, that are leaving little room
  for autonomy in our classrooms, and veteran
  teachers, who are the mentors and backbone of
  English departments are discouraged and confused
  and ready to bolt out the door.  We've seen many
  "reform movements" over the past 20 to 25 years,
  and here we are again, questioning will this one
  work?  However, what is coming at us is big
  private/corporate money from Pearson, among other
  industries, who seem to be calling the shots this
  time.  These reforms are here to stay, because
  money talks.  
• One of the questions we must ask is how do we
  support our veteran teachers who have worked
  tirelessly over the years, and offer the
  professional development to them, and even to
  newer teachers, that will give them what they
  need to survive in this new culture of education?
• Oooops!  I'm sorry, now I will get off my soap
  box.
• Thanks for including me in this event!
• Sincerely
• Barbara

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Dear Barbara and Liz,

• Is there room on your soapbox for us all? Pearson
  just bought an on-line learning company. In my
  darkest little conspiracy heart, I see Pearson,
  with support from the Gates Foundation, making
  the argument we can save money and improve
  education by downsizing schools and going to
  on-line schools and "ed. labs". That Pearson has
  the largest share of ed. text publishing, now has
  on-line schooling, and the endorsement of Gates
  scares me silly.
• I'm actually more hopeful about the Common Core
  depending on how the standards are used. Having
  worked for 10 years where the standards gave us a
  goal line students had to reach, I did not find
  them restrictive though I did have to be a little
  more creative. I do find the Core a bit light and
  I am mortally offended that fiction and narrative
  writing are given such short shrift. Have any of
  these folks ever heard or piloting things first?
  I am leery of going so merrily down this primrose
  path without a lot of solid testing and data
  behind it.
• That we need to differentiate for our veteran
  teachers is imperative. It's the how and the what
  that we need to explore. Maybe we can explore how
  to offer differentiated PD to meet the Core needs
  of the new, the mid-career, and the veteran ?
• Looking forward to spending time with you both.
• Cathy

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Here we are

• Know that you are not alone
• What would you like to talk about?

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Transforming the roles of leaders
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Transforming Teachers
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Mentoring new teachers
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Sustaining Veteran Teachers
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Curriculum
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Instruction
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Assessments
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Students