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Will Common Core mean less teaching to the test?
One of the big questions as Florida and 44 other states transition to new education standards and new tests over the next few years is how much time will teachers have to spend teaching to the test?
Teachers complain that they can only spend classroom time on items which will appear on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. In addition, another complaint is that class time is used to teach kids how to take a test rather than imparting more important knowledge.
Common Core is a set of shared education standards which outlines what students should know in math and English language arts at the end of each grade. Advocates say the standards emphasize critical thinking skills over memorization.
Here’s how Hillsborough County’s elementary math supervisor Lia Crawford explained how “teaching to the test” will change with Common Core during a summer training session:
“If you guys continue to have your students (be) really deep thinkers and problem-solvers, the test won’t be an issue. The problem comes in when our assessment doesn’t match and line up to our instruction. And so that’s what we need to start thinking about.
“Once we know that they’re assessing students on ‘X,’ we as teachers have always known how do we better prepare our students for that. So that’s really critical that we are modeling those types of strategy on selecting effective responses based on the question and not just a number.
“Think about when we teach testing strategies to kids – and Cynthia brought up the multiple-choice. We always teach kids to eliminate wrong answers, correct? I did it.
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Screenshot / Twitter
The Florida Department of Education is tweeting out a Common Core State Standard each day.
Common Core State Standards, 140 characters at a time.
The Florida Department of Education’s Twitter account is now sending out a “standard of the day” to its more than 5,700 followers. The tweets include a link to the math and English language arts standards which outline what students should know at the end of each grade.
Florida is one of 45 states and the District of Columbia which have fully adopted the standards. But Common Core opponents are becoming more organized and vocal in Florida, and a lawmaker introduced a bill last week that would put implementation of the new standards on hold.
The department tweeted out the first standards Tuesday. From sixth grade English language arts:
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John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida
State Board of Education chairman Gary Chartrand makes a point at last week's education summit.
Last week Gov. Rick Scott asked three dozen parents, educators, lawmakers and business leaders to take a look at state education policies at a three-day summit in Clearwater.
They were asked to review four things: New Common Core standards which take full effect next year; Florida’s next standardized test; the state school grading formula; and teacher evaluations.
The group came up with suggested changes which were sent to Scott and others. Scott said he plans to act, but many of the suggested changes would require a vote by the legislature or the State Board of Education.
But many who attended the summit were frustrated by the scope of the task — trying to tackle more than a decade of Florida education policy in less than 72 hours.
StateImpact Florida reporter John O’Connor attended the summit. He spoke with WUSF’s Craig Kopp about what he learned.
