Conquering the Core – A Parent’s Guide to the Common Core
Since 2010, 45 states, including California, have adopted the Common Core Standards. What is Common Core and what does it mean in relation to your child’s education and readiness for the next grade level?
What is is the “Common Core Standards”?
- A single set of clear and consistent standards that provide all students regardless of location with a “college and career” ready education.
- The standards provide expectations for each grade level and will allow parents to track their progress through each grade level and progression into college.
- The standards are evidence and research -based and are set to provide students with the skills that they will need in the real world.
What it is not?
- The Common Core Standards are not a curriculum.
- Each district with the help of administrators and teachers will decide on the curriculum used in the classroom.
What does it mean for my child?
- Instructional shifts-More hands on project based learning, technology integration and facilitated education as opposed to the “sit and get” style seen in many classrooms today.
- Shifts in text types– Informational vs. literary text-More emphasis on informational text and using text evidence to support their responses both in question format and in their writing.
- End of the year exam-Online Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has created an exam that all students in the state of California will take at the end of the year to assess their knowledge of all standards.
What can I do to better prepare my child for the school year?
- Read to and with your child!!
- Make sure they are able to fully comprehend the text they are reading and support with textual evidence.
- Introduce your child to a variety of texts (non-fiction, fiction, news articles, and biographies, persuasive and argumentative pieces)
Helpful websites:
