As the debate over education reform continues in the United States, you’ve probably heard about the Common Core State Standards initiative. What is it exactly, and how will it affect your child’s education? In this introduction to Common Core State Standards (CCSS), we’ll cover the basics of the initiative—including which states have adopted CCSS, how it will be implemented in your child’s school, why we’re in favor of CCSS, and what we still don’t know about CCSS—as well as its possible implications for students who receive special education services. The CCSS initiative was neither designed nor mandated by the federal government. Rather, it is led by states and state-level groups/organizations, primarily the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The CCSS were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts with the goal of unifying state educational standards in English language arts and math across the board—a major shift away from the current model of each state setting its own standards.
This three-minute video explains CCSS in a fun, simple way:
The standards have also been carefully designed to improve the quality of education and to better prepare students for college and career. The official CCSS website explains it like this:
“The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.”
The standards are based on those in the highest performing states and successful foreign countries and are evidence-based, realistic, and practical.
How Will Common Core State Standards Be Implemented in Your Child’s School? The CCSS apply only to math and English/language arts. Standards for other academic subjects will continue to be set by each state. To date, 45 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards. Each participating state will determine when to start implementing the CCSS in its public schools.
To learn when and how CCSS will be implemented in your state’s schools, click on the link for your state on this helpful state-by-state guide from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
What’s the Difference Between Educational Standards and Curriculum?To grasp the concept of the Common Core State Standards, it’s important to understand the difference between educational standards and the curriculum:
- Standards describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject in each grade.
- The curriculum refers to how educators teach the subject matter. Curriculum is not spelled out under CCSS but is still determined by individual states and school districts.
So, if your state has adopted the CCSS, decisions are being made about whether the reading and math curricula in your school district are adequate to ensure students can achieve the standards.
Which States Did Not Adopt Common Core State Standards?While most states have adopted the Common Core State Standards, a handful of states decided against using them. Alaska, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Virginia did not adopt Common Core Standards for either math or English/language arts. Minnesota has adopted Common Core Standards for English/language arts but not for math.
Why would a state choose not to adopt Common Core Standards? Here are some possibilities:
- The expense of buying new instructional materials and adopting new reading and math assessments
- The time and expense of training teachers in the new standards
- General disruption caused by the transition to the new standards
Why We’re in Favor of Common Core StandardsThe rationale behind the CCSS initiative is to improve public education in grades K–12 by raising standards and promoting equity in education. No matter where a student lives, as long as he attends public school in a state that has adopted CCSS, he’ll be taught according to the same high standards.
Proponents of CCSS also point out that by working together, states will be more efficient and effective. States using CCSS can collaborate on the development of teaching materials aligned to the standards, as well as designing annual assessments (standardized tests) to measure student progress. Participating states can also work together to support teachers and schools in implementing the CCSS. Best practices will emerge and be shared among states. For the first time in U.S. history, reading and math achievement scores for grades 3–8 will be comparable between states adopting the CCSS.
What We Still Don’t Know About Common Core StandardsAs with any sweeping new initiative that applies to a large and complex system and group of people, some of the ramifications of CCSS are still unknown. Here are some of the questions that remain unresolved:
- What training in CCSS will general education teachers receive? Will the training be complete before CCSS is implemented, or gradual and ongoing as the new standards are phased in?
- Will special education teachers be trained in the new standards?
- What will the role of special educators be in schools that have adopted CCSS?
- How will instructional materials be changed or phased in as CCSS are implemented?
- Will schools be able to easily design curriculum aligned with the new standards? If not, how will this play out in the classroom (e.g., as confusion, disruption)?
- How will Response to Intervention (RTI) be implemented with the new standards?
- Will all CCSS states use standards-based IEPs?
- When new state tests are developed to assess students’ knowledge and skills, which accommodations will be provided to students with IEPs?
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Kristin Stanberry is a writer and editor specializing in parenting, education, and consumer health/wellness issues. Her areas of expertise include learning disabilities and AD/HD, topics which she wrote about extensively for Schwab Learning and GreatSchools.
