Implementing Common Core Standards in Independent Charter Schools
By Shawn Stelow Griffin, The Finance Project
In late 2009, the National Governor’s Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) announced a joint effort to create recommended standards for students in grades K-12 in English language arts and mathematics. Over the past two years, these two prominent national membership organizations have convened experts to write and vet the standards. To date, 44 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards. Chances are, your state has adopted these standards, and your school must now adjust its curriculum to meet these new standards. Not to worry—there are a number of resources that can support these efforts.
Resources
In New York, the board of regents adopted the Common Core standards in January 2011. According to a timeline posted on the NY State Education Department website, every teacher should implement at least one unit aligned to the Common Core Standards each semester.[1] The timeline calls for full implementation of the Common Core Standards and aligned assessments by the 2014-2015 school year. The timeline is accessible at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/ccstimeline.html.
Teachers and leaders at independent charter schools in New York have two key websites to turn to for information and support:
- The state education department’s Curriculum and Instruction office has a Common Core portal on its website. A Common Core Implementation toolkit of information can be accessed at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/toolkit.html. This portal provides copies of the standards themselves, as well as supporting resources such as test exemplars, samples of student work and the research basis of the standards. The toolkit also links to national resources available at the Common Core Standards Initiative website.
- The second New York state resource is the EngageNY website. This website provides support to teachers and administrators in key areas of education reform in the state. Common Core resources on this website include curriculum exemplars, details of instructional shifts, a video series that explain the standards in depth, and the implementation timeline.
For readers outside of New York state, most state departments of education have developed web-based portals of resources to disseminate state priorities for implementation as well resources to assist teachers and administrators in the development of units, lessons, and resources that align to the new English/Language Arts and Mathematics standards. Other states are building resource pages and structures to support the implementation of the Common Core standards in their states. Here is a sampling of web resources from selected states from across the country:
- California: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cc/: for state curriculum documents and a parent guide
- District of Columbia: http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/In+the+Classroom/What+Students+Are+Learning/DCPS+Common+Core+State+Standards: for implementation plans and assessment plans
- Illinois: http://www.isbe.net/common_core/default.htm: for implementation plans as well as assessment transition plans
- Louisiana: http://www.doe.state.la.us/topics/common_core.html: for the state’s implementation plan, information for parents and teachers
- Maryland: http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/ccss/?WBCMODE=Presentat%25%25%3e%25%25: for state common core frameworks and other information
- Massachusetts: http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/commoncore: for state frameworks and a state assessment transition plan
- Maine: http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/commoncore: standards documents as well as documents detailing the state’s perspective regarding the application of the Common Core for English language learners and students with disabilities
- Michigan: http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140--232021--,00.html: for assessment transition plans, and grade by grade crosswalks of the Michigan Content Expectations to the Common Core standards
There’s an App for That!
A quick search of the Apple App Store reveals several iPhone and iPad apps designed to support teachers and administrators as they design lessons and units aligned to the Common Core standards. One of the apps, Common Core by Mastery Connect, is available for Android phones as well.
The two lead organizations in this effort, NGA and CCSSO, host a website, www.corestandards.org. This website provides a history of the development of the standards, news and updates regarding the standards and standards implementation, frequently asked questions, and the standards themselves. Additionally, key education policy e-newsletters and websites such as Education Week, Education Commission of the States, ASCD (Association for Supervision, Curriculum and Development) and others provide regular updates and opinions regarding common core implementation.
Next Steps
The thought of rewriting curriculum is likely daunting—however, by taking a planful and strategic approach this seemingly overwhelming task can be broken down into manageable parts. My past experiences writing curriculum were rich professional experiences that gave me opportunities to work with peers from nearby schools, and capture the best thinking of a number of individuals in a single cohesive unit. While a “mom and pop” charter school lacks the resources and access of a district comprised of many schools, it can still participate in a collaborative curriculum writing and alignment process, using some of the following approaches:
- Map your existing curriculum, materials, units and lessons/activities: Using curriculum and unit maps for your school, overlay current unit topics and curriculum scope to the Common Core Standards. This strategy will give you a clear vision of changes that need to be made in order to meet the scope and sequence of the Common Core. Recalling that New York state has an implementation timeline, needed changes can be addressed purposefully in a way that adheres to the implementation timeline.
- Work hard, and smarter: Independent charter schools are lean organizations, with staff playing multiple roles within the school. Many independent charters become part of collaborative networks in which they share resources and information and, in some cases, staff. Collaborative networks can work in person or using platforms such as Skype and/or Google Docs to co-create units and lessons aligned to the Common Core. Armed with a plan describing the sequence in which curriculum revisions will occur, school leaders can explore the creation of writing teams or other strategies to encourage collaboration and sharing among other independent charter schools.
Check out the blog series on implementing the Common Core at an independent charter schools in New York, written by Lisa DiGaudio, to see how one school is redesigning their curriculum. What other strategies are you exploring to complete the curriculum revision process? What planning frameworks or work management tools are you using to track progress in this effort? How are you sharing new units of study among your faculty and staff? Feel free to post your ideas below to keep the conversation going.
The views expressed in Charter Notebook blogs represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association or the U.S. Department of Education.
[1] The Common Core standards only cover K-12 mathematics and English language arts, thus this requirement only applies to those two subject areas.
