The Common Core State Standards (Primary Document)

Musings  and Meanderings
 
While reading Azar Nafisi's book I ran into an interesting question. It is a question that she asked her students at the beginning of her first class; what is the purpose of fiction? What should fiction accomplish, or why should one "bother" to read it. She felt that the purpose of fiction was reflected in a line from Theodor Adorno, a German thinker, "The highest form of morality is not to feel at home in one's own home " (p. 94). While the Common Core State Standards are not fiction they have caused me to not feel at home in my own home as was demonstrated in my last posting.  I will now look at the document in more detail itself and not others opinions of it to see where it brings me.  

As I read the introduction to the Common Core State Standards I am comforted. A preliminary look at it reassures me as long as it is interpreted according to “The Standards define what all students are expected to know and be able to do, not how teachers should teach. …Furthermore, while the Standards make references to some particular forms of content including mythology, foundational U.S. documents, and Shakespeare, they do not –indeed, cannot—enumerate all or even most of the content that students should learn” (p. 6).  I interpret this to mean that the exemplar list of reading is not MANDATORY.

Secondly the CCSS does not mandate that English Language Arts classes teach Literature using a 70/30 nonfiction to fiction ratio.  Indicated by an asterisk on page 5 states, “The percentages on the table reflect the sum of student reading, not just reading in ELA settings. Teachers of senior English classes, for example, are not required to devote 70 percent of reading to information a texts. Rather, 70 percent of student reading across the grad should be informational.”

Of great interest to me is “The Standards set grade-specific standards but do not define the intervention methods or materials necessary to support students who are well below or well above grade-level expectation.  No set of grade-specific standards can fully reflect the great variety of abilities, needs, learning rates, and achievement levels of students in any given classroom. However, the Standards do provide clear signposts along the way to the goal college and career readiness for all students” (p. 6).  Here the Standards are almost embracing teacher judgment and differentiation (at least I hope that they are).

This is followed by what students who are college and career ready in reading, writing, speaking, and language. They:

·         Demonstrate independence

·         Build strong content knowledge

·         Respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline

·         Comprehend as well as critique

·         Value evidence

·         Use technology and digital media strategically and capably

·         Come to understand other perspectives and cultures

I must admit I feel a little foolish over my earlier protestations. Only time will tell . 

 

To Be Continued....