The following guest column is by Char Shryock, director of curriculum and instruction for the Bay Village City Schools and a member of the Ohio Eduction Leadership Cadre. She writes in favor of the Common Core education standards.
Ohio’s new learning standards (Common Core) are a shift away from a focus on memorized facts that are tested then forgotten to content that is learned, practiced, mastered and applied to real world problems.
Our new standards give teachers the creative license to turn classrooms into places where children have a chance to build knowledge of math, reading,writing, speaking and listening through the study of literature, history, science, government and the arts. To be successful in the world beyond k-12 education, students need to be able to solve problems, analyze information, evaluate the opinions of others, think creatively and support their own ideas with evidence.
In the work world, math, writing, and reading do not exist as separate components, but are integrated to allow workers to do their jobs fluently. Ohio’s new standards are designed to define the learning necessary to teach students to be fluent thinkers and creative problem solvers. This begins in preschool and continues along a defined path of learning through high school.
The new standards focus on challenging content, while helping students to practice the problem solving and analytical thinking skills they will need throughout life. In the real world, they won’t be asked to read a section of information and answer multiple choice questions about it. This is why new tests are being developed that allow students to show what they know in many ways.
There are six Key Shifts In Learning that support the Ohio’s new standards. These shifts have been happening in classrooms across Ohio since the standards were adopted in 2010. Visitors to an Ohio school might see:
• Students using a variety of resources beyond their textbook to help them build knowledge of a topic. .
• Students reading a wide range of challenging materials including fiction, poetry and non-fiction, then using quotes from the reading to support their ideas and opinions.
• Students learning vocabulary by reading, writing and talking about math, science, literature, history, government and the fine arts.
• Students using their understanding of math to solve problems in the world around them.
• Students building on math knowledge from the prior year to extend their thinking and understanding of math concepts.
• Students working on understanding math concepts by using the right tools and a variety of strategies to solve problems.
Educators and business leaders from across Ohio have contributed to the development and implementation of these standards. Teachers and administrators across our state are investing time and money in the creation of lessons, selection of materials and training of teachers to make the shift to our new standards.
All Ohio children deserve the opportunity to learn the knowledge and skills they will need to allow them to be successful after they graduate from high school. Ohio’s New Learning Standards are the right step in helping them to achieve this goal.