{"id":21583,"date":"2014-03-10T00:01:20","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T04:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=21583"},"modified":"2014-03-10T15:13:38","modified_gmt":"2014-03-10T19:13:38","slug":"what-a-florida-middle-school-has-learned-so-far-teaching-common-core-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2014\/03\/10\/what-a-florida-middle-school-has-learned-so-far-teaching-common-core-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"What A Florida Middle School Has Learned So Far Teaching Common Core Standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of a series from The Hechinger Report<\/a> and StateImpact Florida looking at how Florida schools are getting ready for Common Core standards. Read — and listen to — the first story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Monroe Middle School teacher Dawn Norris hears a difference in her language arts classes since she starting using Common Core standards two years ago. It\u2019s how the 13-year teacher knows the new standards are working.<\/p>\n

Middle schools across Florida will begin using the new math and language arts standards when classes start this fall. But most middle schools in the Tampa area, where Monroe is located, are already using Common Core.<\/p>\n

\"Monroe<\/a>

John O'Connor \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p>

Monroe Middle School teacher Dawn Norris talks to her students about how to write an essay about fairy tales. Norris has been teaching based on the Common Core standards for two years. Since making the switch, she says her students have taken more control of the lessons.<\/p><\/div>\n

Common Core has been fully adopted by 45 states<\/a>. But the standards have been criticized for their quality, for reducing local control over classroom content and for continuing emphasis on student test results to determine whether teachers and schools are successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve noticed in my classes now is they\u2019re loud. And that\u2019s OK,\u201d Norris said. \u201cWhere in the old days it was, no, you want that silent classroom, but the more they talk, they\u2019re all on task. They\u2019re all working on that same common goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Monroe has about 530 students right outside the gates of MacDill Air Force base<\/a>. Four of five students at the C-rated school qualify for federal free and reduced-priced lunches. About 25 percent of students transfer into or out of the school during a typical year \u2013 higher than typical Hillsborough County schools.<\/p>\n

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