Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/20186
a responsible, sensible way, and it will happen around the same time that new materials would be adopted anyway. How will the Common Core affect testing and teaching? Testing will change eventu- ally. The new standards have much more of a focus on appli- cation and making sure kids use the skills and strategies they learn. The new standards are more practical with less empha- sis on learning skills and more on actually using those skills, thinking and doing. There should be more discourse in the classroom, more opportunities for kids to talk to each other. This is estimated by EdSource to cost about $1.6 billion. Is it worth it? We think it is, provided the state makes the investment. Our system as a whole needs ratchet- ing up. There are kids that really need “going deeper” time, but they are not getting that because teachers are so worried about cov- ering the standards, which are so broad. Teachers have so many standards to cover that they can’t go back and revisit them. Many teachers feel as though they are on a treadmill running through the curriculum so they can get to the end and kids can be tested. With the Common Core in place this should change, with fewer stan- dards at each grade level that are also more age appropriate. It’s not cheap, but change is never cheap. What’s the deal with eighth- grade algebra? Under current California standards there is just one eighth-grade math standard, and that is algebra. But if they’re not taking it, they take general math, which covers sixth- and seventh-grade standards. Al- most 50 percent of California’s eighth-grade students fall into that category now. The Com- mon Core State standards left it up to individual states. If a state wanted to have algebra as an eighth-grade core, it could; but if it also wanted to have a high- level pre-algebra core, it could. This is what California decided to do: Have an eighth-grade al- gebra core for some students and also a high-level pre-alge- bra core for others, which is supposed to be a powerful prep- aration for algebra. CTA is con- cerned that this could lead to tracking, however, and encour- ages schools to be very careful that this does not happen, espe- cially with low-income students and students of color. Will the Common Core standards continue to evolve? Yes, they will continue to evolve based on evidence and experiences across the nation. One of things we voiced concern about on the commission was whether, by adopting new stan- dards, we were also adopting ev- ery version of Common Core standards to come? The answer is no. In California we are adopt- ing this particular version of the Common Core standards and we will consider adopting updated versions as they come up. These Common Core standards have been reviewed by teachers across the country. NEA and the CTA State Council Curriculum and Instruction Committee spent numerous hours and days re- viewing the core standards. And we will continue to review them as they evolve. SHERRY POSNICK-GOODWIN SEPTEMBER 2010 | 2009 www.cta.org 33 NOV 31