The Common Core is a set of reading and math standards that New York State adopted in 2010, along with 45 other states and the District of Columbia.
The new standards are meant to address a persistent and confounding phenomenon: State test scores showed that most students were performing at grade level, but far fewer students entered college with the skills required to succeed there. State officials concluded that at least part of the problem is that they were not asking students to do challenging enough work.
The Common Core requires teachers to adjust their instruction and students to take on more challenging assignments. Unlike the state’s old standards, which emphasized what students should know, the Common Core focuses on skills students should develop, especially close textual analysis in reading and deep understanding of relatively few topics in math.
New York became the second state to test students (in grades 3-8) on the standards in 2013. Just as officials had warned, pass rates on the tougher tests plunged from the year before, from about 55 percent in reading and 65 percent in math in 2012 to 31 percent in each subject in 2013.
The tests and results drew criticism from parents, teachers, and, in some cases, students about the state’s rollout of the new standards. They charged that teachers had not gotten adequate time and support to change their instructional practices, and that the tests presented an unfair challenge to students. The criticism reached a peak in late 2013 when state education officials temporarily halted public forums about the Common Core because of protests.
The tension continues to simmer even as students and teachers move through their third year under the new standards and second year when the standards will be tested. The state will administer its first high school-level Common Core-aligned exams in 2014, the same year that New York City teachers’ evaluations will reflect test scores for the first time – January 2014
THE BOTTOM LINE FOR:
- New York City piloted the standards in 100 schools in 2010-11, extended them to all schools in 2011-12, and first assessed students in grades 3-8 on them in 2012-13.
- Statewide, 31 percent of students in grades 3-8 scored "proficient" or better on Common Core aligned English tests in 2013, down from 55.1 percent on tests in 2012 that were not tied to the standards
- In math, the pass rate sank to 31 percent on Common Core tests, down from 64.8 percent the year before.
December 18, 2013
Lately, special-education teacher Rachael Goeler has been wondering how her 17-year-old student who cannot count to 10 will be able to write an equation on a state test. This year, some 10,400 city students with severe disabilities, like those Goeler teaches, are being assessed for the first time on their mastery of a modified version of […]
October 17, 2013
In New York starting this school year, classrooms will transform into havens of critical thinking and deeper learning — the opposite of the teach-to-the-test culture so reviled by many teachers for more than a decade. Or so promise proponents of the new set of standards known as the Common Core that the state’s schools are […]
September 5, 2013
Teachers across the city said they still haven’t received all of the textbooks and teaching materials for the new city curriculum aligned with Common Core standards. During the two days of professional development this week, some teachers were told to use old books and curricular materials or to find content online until new materials arrive. “Without […]
April 8, 2013
In the three years since New York officially adopted the Common Core learning standards, students have tackled tougher assignments, teachers have remade assignments, and schools have rethought when topics should be taught — all in an effort to prepare students to show they have mastered the new standards. Now, the first test of whether the […]
February 28, 2013
For the first time since 2003, the Department of Education has revised its curriculum recommendations for schools. The new recommendations are meant to guide schools through the myriad curriculum options on the market to those that best reflect new learning standards known as the Common Core. Students across the state are set to take math and […]
October 16, 2012
The city and other school districts desperately need additional funding if they are to raise academic standards, Department of Education Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky said today. Even though the city has done more to integrate new learning standards known as the Common Core than other districts and states, it cannot adequately train staff or buy […]
July 23, 2010
Common standards have only just arrived on the national scene, but they are already making their way to the city’s schools. On Monday, New York State officially committed to adopt national “common core” standards for what students should be expected to learn, which were released in their final form in June. But city officials have […]