Thursday, December 5, 2013 7
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Common Core brings new strategies to Carpinteria classrooms By Erin LEnnon
This fall, Carpinteria Unified School District teacher Kristy Guerrero has grown accustomed to standing in front of rooms filled with her peers from throughout the district. Her mission for the 2013/2014 school year is to train Carpinteria’s educators in new ways to teach math under the approaching Common Core State Standards Initiative. Guerrero is a welcome sight throughout the district, as are a slough of other professional development tools, as CUSD overcomes all of the politicking and bureaucracy to implement the nationwide Common Core State Standards in Carpinteria classrooms. The National Governor’s Association, the Council of Chief School Officers and leaders in education and business, who either create well-educated youth or reap the benefits, created the newly implemented standards in 2009. Forty-five U.S. states and the District of Columbia have adopted this voluntary curriculum, taking a step toward a universal set of math and English Language Arts standards. Under these surface objectives, CCSSI is designed to coordinate assessments and classroom practices throughout the country. However, Alaska, Texas and Virginia say their schools will not participate in the Common Core initiative. California adopted the common core standards in August 2010, and this school year those standards have gone into practice in every classroom, from kindergarten through high school. The new math and language arts standards are designed to be more rigorous, requiring teachers to help students transcend merely answering a question by providing the tools necessary to understanding why a particular answer is correct and how the answer was found. Essentially, Common Core’s goal is to ensure students not only know 2+2=4, but that they understand how to calculate the answer so they can map out strategies for similar problems inside and outside the classroom. “A lot of the students have a difficult time using what they just learned and incorporating it into an outside problem,” said Carpinteria High School Principal Gerardo Cornejo. He sees the ability to apply lessons learned as a major benefit of Common Core. CUSD teachers will have to perform a little teamwork to achieve the depth and rigor requested under the new curriculum. Educators from across subjects can pool their resources and align their lessons to help students get a deeper understanding of grade-level appropriate topics, said Cornejo. Under Common Core, English Language Arts introduces students to varying types of texts, and literacy is a part of every classroom, from history and social
studies to science and technical subjects. “It’s not just for college, it’s for careers,” said Cornejo, who is confident that the increased collaboration between departments will help prepare students for a variety of post-graduation opportunities, whether they’re heading to a college campus or work. Cordeiro, on the other hand, has seen educational trends come and go over his decades in education. CUSD’s recent success in comparison to neighboring districts shows that the district’s way of doing things has worked. And he doesn’t want parents, donors or students to forget that. While 34 percent of CUSD’s students are English Learners, who speak another language outside of school, and 61 percent of students fall under the poverty line, CUSD surpassed 800, the target score for all California schools, on the state’s Academic Performance Index during the 2012-2013 school year. Last spring, CUSD received an 809 along with the Ventura Unified School District and outpaced Santa Barbara Unified School District’s 807 and Lompoc’s 769. “I want to remind people that (Common Core) does not amount to erasing everything we do that’s effective and starting over,” said Cordeiro. “This does not mean that everything we’ve done here before has been ineffective.” While Cordeiro remains what he calls a discerning adopter, he is preparing his staff for the implementation of Common Core this academic year. He counts out on his hand the components to doing just that. Resources, as usual, are one of the first digits ticked off. The textbooks accompanying the new curriculum will begin rolling out in early 2014, but others may not be available until 2016 or 2017. However, Cornejo isn’t waiting for any textbooks. “Textbooks are not what make instruction great,” he said. “It’s about getting teachers the resources and time that they need to make a difference.” Both Cornejo and Cordeiro have already seen teachers incorporating materials that they have found online from throughout the country, ranging from CCSSI materials from the Santa Ana Unified School District just to the south and from across the country in Kalamazoo, Mich. “It’s going to make teachers more astute, more confident creators of curriculum,” said Cordeiro. “The common core, as they say in the documents, doesn’t tell you how to teach. So we’ll see some original work come out of this.” However, implementing Common Core, whether using materials shared online or new textbooks, will cost money. California’s current budget set aside $1.25 billion for schools to use for implementing CCSSI, which is about $200 per stu-
Washington and Sacramento battle over new state testing
On Oct. 2, California signed into law Assembly Bill 484, in which California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress assessment (CalMAPP) replaces the state’s longtime California Standards Test. California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson suspended CST testing and subsequently required that districts only administer either the math or English component of the CalMAPP assessment to students in third through eighth grades and 11th grades this spring. CalMAPP will be field-tested before officially launching in spring 2015. Torlakson’s decision led to a backlash from the federal government, which annually tests students in both subjects as part of No Child Left Behind. Firmly opposed to Torlakson’s single-exam plan, the federal government threatened to fine California tens of millions of dollars. In late November, Torlakson changed his approach, requiring California students to take both the English and math components of CalMAPP this spring. dent. Initial spending is heading toward technology. Part of that funding will be directed toward the new computerized assessments that accompany the Common Core curriculum. Starting in spring 2015, CUSD students will ditch their pencil and paper state assessments to take the online California Measurement of Academic
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Performance and Progress assessment. “We’ve done an assessment of what we have and what we need to administer those assessments, and we’re in the process of purchasing those (technological) necessities,” said Cordeiro. These tech purchases would be used throughout the year. “These are not things you just use for testing and then put away,” he said.
St. Jude
Oh Holy St. Jude, apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in Miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful special patron in time of need, to you do I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to whom God has given such great powers, to come to my assistance. Help me in my present urgent petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked. Pray for us all who invoke your aid. Amen Say three Our Fathers, three Hail Marys, three Glorias. This Novena must be said for 9 consecutive days. This Novena has never been known to fail.
Friday December 13th•4-6pm Book Signing Valerie Hobbs “Wolf” Saturday December 14th•10:30am-12:30pm Book Signing: “What’s Growing in Carpinteria Allen Braithwait Sunday December 15th•11am Polar Express Storytime and Activities Polar Express will be 15% off during story time. Friday, December 20th•6:30p-7:30p Curious Cup Bookstore will have Storytime at Coffee Bean! First 15 kids get free hot chocolate Open December 24th for last minute shopping!