Transitioning to the Common Core

Most schools or school districts who's states have reauthorized over into the Common Core are faced with moving away from traditional settings for learning in which individual subject matter skill sets has been taught in isolation.

School districts transitioning to the Common Core will create a curriculum that is both challenging and meaningful 21st Century learners. School districts transitioning to the Common Core will create a curriculum that is both challenging and meaningful 21st Century learners. The process of transitioning to the Common Core has five stages of selected tools, (1) determining gaps within the existing curriculum while unpacking standards, (2) determining real life themes of study through the establishment of an essential question and constructing a curriculum web to identify standards to be included in a unit of study, (3) creating multidimensional task using a rigorous/relevance framework, (4) designing performance based assessments for real world applications and (5) developing unit maps that are tied to standards. The five tools required to complete a unit of study are assembled around the Common Core Unit Development Model.

According  to "The International Center for Leadership in Education" Transitioning into the Common Core standards will take approximately two to three years for local districts to fully implement the components required in both standards and methods of instruction. The planning process for the new Common Core State Standards and next generation assessments should include at minimum the following outcomes and goals, and a program outline:

• Facilitate a three-year transition from current state standards and assessments to the Common Core State Standards and next generation assessments
• Build deep understanding of and commitment to the new Common Core State Standards and assessment
• Support leadership in planning, goal setting, deep professional development, and implementation
• Correlate current standards and assessments to the Common Core State Standards and assessments to identify gaps
• Adjust curriculum to address the new requirements
• Enhance current instructional and assessment practices to increase capacity from the district to the classroom level
• Develop and implement a process to monitor ongoing adherence to plans and goals

What Should Be Done Now

• Make plans to switch next year’s kindergartners to the new standards
• Become aware of which standards have moved grade levels (this is not an overwhelming list)
• Begin greater emphasis on non-fiction reading and writing in all grades
• Wait for the development of aligned materials/standards maps