Common Core was introduced in 2008 and sought to standardize curriculum at a state and national level, and, as of date, 42 states have voluntarily implemented the curriculum. Common Core seeks to provide a higher set of standards countrywide with a clear set of expectations that prepare students for collegiate curriculum (“Preparing America’s Students …show more content…
It emphasizes, “what students should be able to do (the skills) not what they should know (the content)” (Gardner and Powell 51). These new standards allow a clear bar that students need to reach by a certain stage and the it is clear when a student is not reaching it. Another benefit of Common Core is that it is more rigorous than traditional teaching methods. With this new curriculum, students are expected, and capable of, learning more at a more advanced rate. Common Core looks towards multiple-choice tests as an example- with these tests you cannot discern whether a student comprehends why the answer they chose is the correct one or if it was simply a lucky guess. New Common Core tests seek to have students grasp underlying meanings, struggle and prevail with difficult tasks, and support their arguments with documented facts (Gardner and Powell …show more content…
A large, and overlooked, solution would have been a slow implementation of the material. By changing the standards and teaching methods overnight, it left both teachers and students overwhelmed and underprepared for the change (Hess and McShane 65). The standards are more difficult than those from traditional teaching methods and the teaching left the students unprepared for the higher requirements.
Another way that the transition into Common Core can be eased is by parental knowledge of the new standards and their involvement in the students’ homework. As these new methods of learning may be different than the ones the parents grew up with, the parents are encouraged to seek help from the teachers should they require it (Preparing America’s Students for Success). Parents should be supportive as frustration and confusion only further hinder Common Core’s teaching methods.
The transition to Common Core has not been, nor will it continue to be, an easy one. The new system is more difficult than one that America has ever known and demands more than many students knew that they were capable of. Common Core seeks to improve the education system by increasing the standards and demanding understanding and mastery. It is for this reason that Common Core will improve the American education system as a