“An Introduction to the Common Core Standard: What It Means for You and Your Children.” That was the title of a presentation at an informational meeting hosted by the Morongo Unified School District Office of Instructional Services at La Contenta Middle School, to introduce a new teaching approach and testing regimen. Dan Stork attended; here is a snapshot of what he learned…
MUSD Curriculum Specialist Dr. Deborah Turner, supported by Assistant Superintendent Tom Baumgarten, brought an audience of about 40 parents and school children up to date on the Common Core Standards. These standards replace ones used in annual Standardized Testing and Reporting (or STAR) tests, which state law has declared dead. New state law says that assessment tests will be “computer-adaptive.” This means that the computer programs that administer the tests will increase or decrease question difficulty as the test goes along, according to how well or poorly a student answers the earlier questions. Dr. Turner added that the standards to be tested against have been adopted by 43 states, acting as individual states, and do not reflect a federal requirement. Claimed characteristics of the standards include: teaching fewer topics, but at a greater depth; using real-world examples in math, requiring students to explain HOW they arrived at answers; less literature and more non-fiction. Parents worried about the difficulty for their children in moving from one testing style to another, and how that might penalize them. Turner and Baumgarten acknowledged that lots of implementation details remain to be worked out; new assessment tests will be tried out this year, but won’t count. As for the relation of the Common Core to Federal education requirements, Baumgarten said that’s up in the air, as the No Child Left Behind program expires this year, and its successor is unknown.
