Being a teacher is hard. There is increased pressure for both kids and educators to perform well in the classroom in addition to other difficulties such as battling overcrowded classrooms and lack of adequate funding.
Now Indiana educators will face another hiccup.
“I am very frustrated,” said Adalene Bookman, an Indiana teacher. “We began implementing Common Core into our lesson plans, my principal was keeping us ahead of everyone else and makings sure we knew what was coming up next with Common Core. This is what we were preparing for. Then for them to say ‘we’re not adopting this’ it’s just frustrating.”
With approval from former Gov. Mitch Daniels and former Indiana state superintendent Tony Bennett, on Aug. 3, 2010, the Indiana State Board of Education unanimously voted to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Mathematics and English/Language Arts (E/LA). Following adoption, the CCSS became known as Indiana’s Common Core Standards (INCC).
These standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn. According to the Common Core website, “the standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills young people need for success in college and careers.”
Last year the Indiana State legislature evaluated Common Core standards under House Enrolled Act Bill 1427 and decided that Indiana would no longer follow its guidelines. A Time Magazine article stated that last month, Indiana became the first state to scrap the standards that are currently in place nationwide.
“This was a desire to carve out our own path that would allow our students to be successful and compete nationally,” said Claire Fiddian-Green, special assistant to Gov. Mike Pence for education innovation.
Gov. Pence; Glenda Ritz, superintendent of student achievement and improvement; the State Legislature; and the Indiana State Board of Education directed the charge to create new standards for Hoosier students.
Evaluation teams consisting of K-12 educators from around the state; national experts; a college and career ready panel composed of college educators and members of various industries and job fields; along with valued input from more than 2,000 teachers, administrators and parents, helped draft new, high standards to “prepare students for college and the workplace.”
This group identified the best practices and developed new math and English/language arts standards from various education models and even from states such as Nebraska and Virginia.
Parents should note that ISTEP will be administered next spring, however a new test will be implemented in 2016.
“I believe students will (graduate) with the same body of knowledge that’s always existed in language arts and mathematics. Two plus two will always equal four. But they’re going to be able to apply those skills to a higher level of rigor,” said Danielle Shockley, assistant superintendent for the Indiana Department of Education.
The new standards simply create a uniformity and clarity about what teachers are supposed to teach. Local schools must develop a new curriculum based on the new standards.
When asked about how the new changes will affect teachers, Shockey said, “Wearing my teacher hat, this is what teachers do every single day. There are new students that come to you each year, there are updates to standards whether it’s social studies or math happening on a cyclical basis, so to me this is just a part of the work teachers are really good at doing.”
Bookman, who teaches third grade at an Indianapolis school, knows she is capable of the changes, but is frustrated by all of the back and forth.
“I don’t like the inconsistencies. I mean, we just started using our Common Core textbooks and they are all Common Core driven,” said Bookman. “I feel it’s a lack of respect and disregard for those on the front lines putting in the work to make sure kids are learning.”
Skeptics of the new plan also wonder if Indiana’s new standards are among “the highest in the nation,” then how does one explain why Hoosier students aren’t performing better when compared to students across the nation.
“I don’t know if that’s all related to standards. There are a lot of things that affect our students’ performance and I would also point out that our assessments need to be aligned to the new changes,” said Shockley.
Bookman agrees and said in a perfect world, teachers could readily teach under any guidelines placed before them, but must deal with other issues that have nothing to do with education.
“Behavior is a major factor when it comes to education. When you have behavior issues and can’t finish a lesson, you’re not going to get a lot of teaching done,” said Bookman.
The proposed Indiana academic standards will be presented to the Education Roundtable for recommendation on April 21, and then go to the State Board of Education for final approval on April 28.
“I look forward to a thorough review by the Education Roundtable and the State Board of Education to ensure these new standards meet my objectives to have Indiana standards written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers, and are uncommonly high,” said Gov. Pence. “Because of the hard work of our educators and parents, Indiana is leading the way on state academic standards that will challenge our students, guide our teachers, and give parents the confidence that our Indiana standards reflect the high expectations Hoosiers have for all our schools.”
New standards must be finalized by July 1, but the State Board of Education’s goal is to complete this process before the current school year is over to give schools enough time to prepare for the upcoming school year and time for schools to educate parents on the changes.
