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Image provided by: Freeport Memorial Library
- h Voice your opinion of Common Core In a survey, the State Education Department seeks the public’s response to controversial standards -n m m T3 O ^ADRIENNE LVDNS al)ons@liherald.com New York State wants your ■ opinion on its controversial i Common Core curriculum. The state has posted a vo luminous survey on its Edu cation Department website asking the public to respond to questions about the Com mon Core program. According to a message from Education Commission er MaryEllen Elia, the state is committed to evaluating the standards regularly. She said that the survey’s results “will directly inform any changes that we make to the standards as a result o f the review.” Oceanside Superintendent Phyllis Harrington said she is pleased with the state’s effort, “This is a great opportunity for people to weigh in regarding the standards,” she said. “I have heard the commissioner speak, and I believe she’s very serious about reviewing data. It’s what people have been asking for.” Dr. Joseph Famularo, superintendent of Bellmore schools, noted that the survey “is challenging. There are over 2,000 items, but each time you click on a standard, it keeps drilling down to another level ” The instruc tions note that respondents don’t have to comment on every standard in the survey; in fact, they can comment on as few or as many issues as they choose. Since their inception in 2011, the Com mon Core standards have been a lightning rod for controversy among students, parents and educators. In New York, the standards are modeled on those from the federal gov ernment. According to nysed.gov/aimhigh- ny, the goals of the review are to increase awareness and understanding of the English and math standards and to gather feedback from New Yorkers with an eye toward im provement. “Improvement is needed,” Famularo, who is also president-elect of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents, acknowledged. “It’s very important that we get as much information from parents and teachers as possible.” The survey is divided into English Language Arts and math, and those subjects then are split up by grade. When respondents click on a grade, they see a series of standards. They can then click on a standard, which opens a drop down box that provides more detailed informa tion, Clicking on the information statements yields more statements about specific aspects of each standard. Respondents can comment on the statements. In Long Beach, Superintendent David Weiss cautioned people not to be confused by another Common Core survey, this one on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s website. Those questions, he noted, are open-ended and less focused than the Edu cation Department survey. . “I think that when people use the phrase Common Core, they’re probably talking I think it’ll give people a better understanding of what [the stan dards] are. Hope fully this will lead to better plans.’ DR. RALPH FERRIE Sewanhaka superintentendnt about five different things,” Weiss said — and the standards are only one category. The others, he said, are assess- ments, which are designed to test whether students are measuring up to the stan dards; assessment scoring; teacher evaluations, which are tied to the assessments; and college readiness stan dards for students graduating in 2022. “These five things get lumped into Common Core,” Weiss said. “So the state has taken the first piece [the stan dards] and said, ‘Here are the new rigorous and clearly articulated standards. What do you think, standard by standard?’ The governor has put all five into one mix. I ’m not sure what their goals are.” The governor’s survey is available at www. ny.gov/content/com m o n -core-task-force- input. However, student assessments and teach er evaluations remains an important issue. Freeport Schools Superintendent Kishore Kuncham said that while the state Education Department survey is a “truly welcomed change, no one is discussing the elephant in the room - tying teacher evaluations to stu dent assessments,” he said. Some educators say they believe that re sponding to the survey will help parents and other non-educators better understand the standards and how they are implemented. “It’s pretty comprehensive. I’ll tell you that,” said Dr. Bob Dillon, superintendent of BOCES. “It’s certainly an opportunity for parents and stakeholders to offer their views on the subject. It does what it’s designed to do.” Asked whether the survey was too long or too difficult for non-educators, Dillon said. It “depends on the level o f involvement and sophistication” o f the respondents. “We want as much rigor as we can,” he add ed. “I’m hoping receptivity is strong and posi tive. Different people have different views on what they can do. If people just go on and don’t do anything else, it doesn’t help,” “It could be daunting for people who aren’t educators, but at th6 same time, people are criti cal [of the standards],” H m n g ton said. “So this is a way for people to become better in formed, so they can draw better conclusions as to whether they agree or disagree.” Dr. Ralph Ferrie, superintendent of the Sewanhaka Central High School District, agreed. “I’d project for someone just go ing on and looking at it, it’s probably go ing to be overwhelming,” he said. But, he added, “People have heard a lot about the Common Core standards, but I ’m not sure people understand what they are. I think it’ll give people a better understanding of what they are. “Hopefully, this will 'lead to better im plem entation, plans and revisions,” Ferrie added, saying that educators in his district would work on the survey “collabora- O n THE web : To find the state Education Department’s Common Core survey, go to: nysed.gov/ aimhighny. To find the governor’s Common Core survey, go to: www.ny.gov/content/common-core-task-force-input. 0 m 1 I B O ' CD ro o U H n e p K 8 . i l dlv«rginoM Item ihi otfginal. pWvCnMHi w I mu I b W i A SAMPLE STANDARD from eighth-grade English Language Arts, above; below, a sample from third-grade math. Survey respondents can reply to statements and comment on the standards. S.NVr f«ifflb6randOeiniior)tin HMT«n I I av: ijv.' . rmimplMif tha r a ^ 10 -M (a. opantiona. Grade Documentt: aD Grade 3 Introduction 4 } Math Practices lively, as an administrative team,” and that they would begin to tackle the project in the next couple of weeks. He suggested that parents and others work together. “It’s better to do it in col laboration with groups,” Ferrie added. “When you’re in a group, you might find that understanding” that a single respon dent working alone might miss. “This is an opportunity for all stake holders to provide the feedback the state is asking for,” said Baldwin Superinten dent Shari Camhi. “It’s a very detailed survey, so I suggest that teachers focus on the grade they teach and parents focus on the grade of their child, and I encourage everyone’s participation.” The site notes that teams of educators from all levels will evaluate comments about standards. Recommendations w i l l . be presented to the Board of Regents for consideration, but no changes will be im plemented until the 2016-17 school year or later. W hile the website encourages partici pation, it warns that the Education De partment “is not undertaking a major re work of the standards.” The site says that the standards “are the culmination of an extended, broad-based effort to fulfill the charge issued by the states to create the next generation of K-12 standards in order to help ensure that all students are college and career ready in literacy no later than the end of high school.” The survey launched Oct. 19, and will end Nov. 27. The results will be analyzed and recommendations made to the state Board of Regents by the end of December. -Laura Schbfer contributed to this story +
