The Common Core State Standards: Moving Toward Student-centered Learning

As someone who has been in education for 15 years, when I hear the word "standards" I shudder. When the thick binder of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was plopped down on my desk, it was no different. I grudgingly flipped through the standards, grumbling and condemning. One difference this time is that I am no longer in the classroom. While I did not feel the pressure of bureaucrats telling me—the professional—what and how to teach, I was still indignant.

Here at Developmental Studies Center I have been working on aligning our literacy programs to the CCSS. While doing this work, I have read through the standards many times and have thought about their implications on our work here at DSC and on public education in U.S. schools. Understanding that no standards will ever please everyone, I have realized that we have a choice; we can fight these literacy standards or we can see the positives and try to offer up thoughtful ways of helping students achieve them.

At first read of the standards it is easy to see how one could jump to the conclusions that they require teachers to “assign and assess.”  How else would you have 4th graders, “Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information presented?" But the standards say that the method of instruction is left open! This allows for thoughtful, engaging instruction, which encourages students to think critically and to take risks with their thinking while supporting them in meeting the standards.

This is where DSC's work is important. Our literacy programs correlate very well with the CCSS. Among many expectations in the CCSS, students are expected to refer back to the text to support their thinking, develop independent opinions, and are held accountable for their participation in academic conversations (Yes! There are standards for accountable talk!). DSC’s literacy programs offer teachers year-long instruction that gets at these very types of standards and many others.

I’ll quote one of my favorite standards, from Speaking and Listening Standards K-5, Standard #1c

“Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.”

This isn’t a standard that is met by telling students they need to do this. This is a standard that is met by an academically rigorous curriculum that uses authentic, engaging literature and helps teachers create safe classroom environments where all students’ ideas are respected and valued.

The standards aren’t perfect, but we as educators can support teachers and students in meeting them in thoughtful and engaging ways.

Grady Carson is a Materials Developer at Developmental Studies Center