An unsure future for Common Core does not necessarily mean a change in the way Ball State teaching students are being taught.
Indiana lawmakers stopped implementation of Common Core in early April, making it one of a diminishing number of states that implement their own core requirements and testing instead of following the Common Core.
Dean of Elementary Education John Jacobson said they prepare students to teach using whatever standards they encounter in their careers.
Jacobson said even if Indiana decides to implement Common Core, “It’s not something that is really going to throw us through a loop.”
Jacobson said he doesn’t want the implementation of Common Core to become a political issue.
“This is not a debate that [Indiana Schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz] is looking at. It is looking at what are the standards we need and adopt the standards. Either Common Core or anything else,” Jacobson said.
Director of English Education Pamela Hartman said the Common Core has the potential to be a powerful tool, depending on how and whether or not it is implemented.
“They need to be used as guidelines rather than mandates for curriculum,” she said. “There are unintended consequences when new standards come down from professional groups or at the federal level.”
One major consequence Hartman said is that mandates force a teacher to teach to a test that will, in the end, determine the salary and efficacy of a teacher.
Under the current system, Indiana teachers work under a growth model, meaning a student completes ISTEP tests to determine where they stand compared to the median student.
Then a student is assigned a range of growth they should meet and a teacher is evaluated on whether they have met the majority of their students expected growth.
Jacobson said this system is actually one of the best ways to determine how effective a teacher can be because it is based on individual students rather than expecting a teacher to treat all students the same.
Focusing on individual students is something that Hartman said should be a part of any proposed curriculum.
She said the lessons could include meeting the guidelines but also be more tuned to what the individual students need.
“A Common Core could force teachers to teach to the test and not what students need as a whole or what individuals actually need,” Hartman said.
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Source: corestandards.org
