Richard: Anticipation of the Future

My state has adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the lastest educational fad to equalize education by having what is more or less national teaching standards. While I like the idea of everyone in the nation finally (with skepticism) being taught and held to the same academic standards, I wonder how that will have an impact on students with exceptionalities.

I recently received a rather thick binder of the new English/Language Arts standards that also include Social Studies and some Science standards and am a bit concerned on how well this new system will work for my students. While the standards themselves are a great tool to aid in curricula planning, they have their shortcomings. They use an abundance of primary sources and really increase the rigor of p-12 academics, but I fear that based on our old way, the new way will be too difficult for many students and things will change before we get them to the level the new standards require.

Currently, we take a state standardized test, which in my opinion is a very broad and ineffective standard with no criteria for mastery and such. We differentiate and interpret it as best we can to meet the level of our students. The CCSS seem to be more precise, and while I haven't read the entire binder, I get the impression that there is a more stringent criteria for mastery, as they provide student exemplars to show you what they want.

At our last ELA meeting, we were advised to begin to phase in the CCSS practices to get students prepared for the change next year. As I looked at this binder, my mind was full of images of frustration, anger, cussing, and students running out of the room mad at me, themselves, and the world. Why these images of Armageddon? Because my students are still struggling to read basic texts (3rd-4th grade material in the 7th grade), and soon they will be expected to take primary sources, which are not written in common language for a 13-year-old audience, then critically analyze and apply this knowledge to academic and real-world applications.

While I admittedly may be over analyzing the new standards, I am truly concerned in the ability of my students to grow as fast as we need them to grow, and in myself to be able to differentiate the instruction enough to achieve mastery. (The idea of mastery is another post for another day!). My students this year are on average 2-3 standards behind the rest of the grade, as I do not move on from something until they demonstrate no less than an 80% correct score on a variety of assessments. I give them standard pencil and paper, performance, and sometimes even verbal assessments so that I am testing them in a way they can best demonstrate their knowledge based on their style.

Needless to say, I will spend a few days of winter break reviewing my new binder and developing new strategies to help ease the transition. What are your thoughts on the move to the CCSS? How do you feel they will impact special education?

Comments

[CPF]

Functional skills, functional abilities! Common core standards may act as an overarching goal but teachers need to be able to make the path within their zone of proximal development. Whether the student is identified with a disability or a student who is two levels behind in a failing school district, students can not learn skills or concepts that are so FAR above their current levels. If teachers think that teaching a core standard is what we are asking from them then students and teachers are missing the boat.

[Jan Borowicz]

"We aim above the mark to hit the mark." (Emerson)
There are many other quotes which capture the importance of setting a goal or standard. As Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."
Standards are absolutely essential for students, especially students with disabilities. Without these curriculum standards, the default is low expectations - dismissing challenges because they are too difficult.
Education has been a haven for the implementation of poorly researched or fad concepts - and progressing in the curriculum has sorely suffered for students who struggle with learning.
The IEP was never designed to become the curriculum. It is a plan to assist a student in learning the curriculum. The students, GE and SE teachers, parents and administration all have a responsibility to student achievement.

The standards are a measuring stick. They advise a planning team of what a student needs to know and be able to do at certain points in the educational process. The IEP team needs to outline the present level of functioning, then design a plan that provides accommodations, supports,and specialized instruction in deficit areas. Good instruction and implementation of the IEP should allow the student to progress in the curriculum.
No, not all students will meet all grade level standards but good progress monitoring will document that effective teaching practices and SE support will result in student growth.

[John Carr]

Richard, it is ironic you received a thick binder when there are relatively few CCSS - finally, less content and more focus on understanding and thinking.

I am the parent of an English learner with a learning difficulty - ASD. I am also an education evaluator, consultant, and author. I welcome the CCSS for many reasons. Reading is more about understanding big ideas about life, not decoding. My son only fell further behind when SE teachers stuck to traditional remediation, and he has accelerated when his IEP targeted summarizing main ideas with supporting evidence in all subject areas and then the teacher used scaffolding strategies. My son, now 15, may never understand more than rudimentary number sense, but he can tell you a lot about angles and why knowing geometry is important. In short, you cannot remediate and accelerate so decide which is best for the student.

I especially welcome the CCSS standards on collaborative learning skills. I want my son to learn to discuss ideas, deepen his understanding by peer-led instruction, and be ready to work in a team in some company. I want a mass burning of all mind-numbing worksheet packets.

[Allyson Wills]

I've seen many changes in education in my 25+ years of teaching (beginning in a self contained EI classroom and currently working as a Teacher Consultant/Resource Room Teacher). In my opinion, we have taken the 'special' out of special education. A student's educational plan was once tailored to his/her needs; at present a one size fits all approach seems to be the norm. I, too, have many concerns re: the adoption of the CCSS, not only for our certified students, but also for those who haven't been prepared for the switch in expectations. I feel the CCSS should be phased in gradually to allow for significant changes in the way students are expected to demonstrate knowledge.

[teacher in Phx]

Some common core standards can be adapted, other goals need to be more of a functional nature. Toilet training, self help, feeding skills, cause and effect switch activiation etc are all hard to find on common core standards.

[J. Y.]

I am concerned with the new CCSS, as well. I am currently in co-teaching 7th grade classes and my students with exceptionalities are already struggling. In my humble opinion, I feel that the new standards should be "rolled out" at the kindergarten/1st grade level and then we can add the next year, when the students move up. To expect students, who are already stuggling to master enough skills to even come close to their peers (and I'm not talking about only the student with exceptionalities), to immediately increase their skills to the rigor of the CCSS is a true contradiction. These students already require extended time and additional instruction to gain skills yet we are expecting them to gain a great deal in very short period of time to be able to participate in the classes addressing the CCSS.

I will say this, life is going to be very interesting next year.

[Gayl Bowser]

It seems to me that the common core standards offer two things. One is a road map for all kids. A common curriculum offers a direction for everyone.

The second thing they offer is chance for our students to get the same information as other students are learning. I am excited about the ways that assistive technology and accessible instructional materials might provide information for our students in new ways so that they don't have to struggle to read the textbook. It's so easy to LISTEN to a textbook these days. I'm hoping that the standards will push up to try more options for learning media in the future.

[lynn bagli]

Our special education students will certainly be challenged with CCSS. I am also thinking about the struggling students in my collaborative classes. How will the great majority of them fare? With their variety of cultures and socio economic status, I fear this noble ideal of CCSS may fail. Why? Because our students do not come to us with a "common core" upon which we can build.

[Genevieve Chaffee]

As I have found in my short career in special education, a teacher's responsibility is to the students and helping them to achieve, to the best of their ability, to become functioning members of their community. Curriculum fads notwithstanding our students need the basics, survival/ living skills. If you work with students who function at a higher level, it is a bonus to have them stretch to reach those Common Core Standards. Whoever expects special education students to attain mastery of those standards on par with general education students has no concept of what a student with special needs is.

[Dianne Raeke Ferrell]

Having been a special educator in many capacities for the last four (!) decades, I believe this will go the way many of the previous untenable changes and expectations have gone. They will slowly disappear. We also need to remember that the IEP is the guiding force for our students and that any standards must be addressed with the specific learning needs of our students being the most important guide for our teaching. Don't let this overwhelm you. Students and their learning needs are more important than any "standards". I strongly suggest getting as many parents involved as possible to make sure that the "powers that be" don't lose sight of the special needs of our students. That is what I teach my education students and what I do when I attend IEP meetings as an advocate.

[Heidi Zucker]

I don't believe special education students (who have an identified disability) should be held to the same common standards expectation of mastery as their general education peers; and let's not forget that the general education poplulation is struggling to meet mastery of current grade level acadecmic achievement standards. It is not fair to hold special eduation students accountable-oh, I mean their teachers! Teachers should not be held responsible for making sure mastery is acheived for special education students. I really wonder what kind of people are running the department of education and wonder how they can think the way they do!