A smattering of parents skeptical of the move toward Common Core standards of curriculum peppered Shawano School District teaching staff with some tough questions during an informational meeting at the high school library Wednesday.
Opposition to the curriculum included concerns that above-average students would be held back while teachers “taught to the middle” and that parents would no longer be able to assist their children with homework because of the new teaching methods.
“I’m stuck trying to teach how I learned,” said Steve Olson. “You put us in a terrible position because we can’t explain it the way the teachers are.”
Liz Nowak said Common Core standards are probably great for average students, but that her daughter is bored and having a tough time.
“I think the teachers are doing what they’re being told to do,” Nowak said after the meeting. “Our teachers are wonderful. I think the Common Core attitude is teaching to the mediocre and I think it’s very sad.”
Linda Myers, math coordinator for grades 6-12 and the district’s consultant and trainer for Common Core State Standards, said there is individualized instruction going on and Common Core helps teachers identify where students are on the learning curve.
“We try to take kids from where they are and move them forward,” she said.
In a presentation that opened Wednesday’s informational meeting, Myers explained that the goals of the Common Core standards were not just to teach skills, but also to “ramp it up so they can apply those skills.”
That includes not just understanding the formula for solving a math problem, for example, but understanding why the formula works.
“It makes them think about it and apply it,” she said.
Wisconsin adopted the Common Core State Standards as Wisconsin’s mathematics and English language arts standards in 2010. The standards have been adopted by over 45 states, according to the Department of Public Instruction website.
Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, Wisconsin’s state assessment will be based on the CCSS.
According to the DPI, the goal is to “define the knowledge and skills students should have during their elementary and secondary school education so they are prepared to compete and succeed in the global economy.”
The Shawano School District moved to the new standards for math last year and is implementing the standards for English at the middle school and high school this year.
The district is in the process of writing the English curriculum for Hillcrest Primary School and Olga Brener Intermediate School for implementation next year.
More than 60 people attended Wednesday’s meeting. Roughly a quarter of them were teachers and school staff.
Some said they weren’t opposed to the Common Core standards, but had concerns about some of the growing pains being felt during the transition.
Ann Steffen said students working outside of class currently don’t have access to instructional materials to reinforce what they learned in the classroom.
“I’m not saying what they’re doing is wrong, but a kid needs a book or they need some type of more instruction,” Steffen said after the meeting. “They come home with a piece of paper paper telling them what to do and not really instructions.”
Myers said that was one of the areas where improvement was needed, with one possible solution making those resources available on the Internet.
“The concerns didn’t surprise me,” Myers said after the meeting. “This is a transition. We’re in our second year. We’re working the bugs out.”
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