PGCPS Adapts to New Curriculum That Promises to Make Students College and Career Ready
Editor in Chief, Meghan Brown interviews Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Lillian Lowery before the Common Core Public Forum held at CHFHS on Oct. 1.
The CHFHS TV Production News Crew
October 3, 2013
Public Forum Held at CHFHS Sheds Light on Common Core State Standards
Photographer/Elise Carter
More than ever, the average American classroom is changing. Teachers are incorporating more multimedia features like Prezi and Edmodo into the curriculum. But even more prominently, teachers are implementing the new Common Core State Standards this year.
Common Core State Standards are benchmark standards that were created for every student from the pre-kindergarten to the 12th grade. These standards are aligned and build on each other every year. They set prerequisites for each grade level that allow the students to be up-to-par with what they should know, so time isn’t wasted trying to teach students what should have already been taught in previous years.
“Common Core is a step in the right direction,” said Dr. Gladys Whitehead, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction in Prince George’s County Public Schools.
With the Common Core State Standards there are fewer standards for English/ Language Arts and Math to focus on which “lets teachers have time to go deeper into teaching and check upon them,” said Dr. Lillian Lowery, the Maryland State Superintendent of Schools.
Lowery was one of four speakers at the MSDE Sponsored Regional Public Forum on Common Core State Standards on Oct. 1, 2013 at Charles H. Flowers High School. Speakers also included Monica Goldson, the Acting Chief Operating Officer of Prince George’s County Public Schools, Shannon Landefeld, a Master Teacher of Tulip Grove Elementary in Bowie, Maryland, and Ray Leone, the President of the Maryland PTA.
The standards are not the only thing changing. Schools will also be transitioning from HSA testing to PARCC testing, (Partnership for Assessment Readiness for College and Career) as part of the assessment for Common Core State Standards. Students will be given a test at the end of each math and English course instead of just for Algebra and English 10.
The Common Core State Standards are supposed to “allow students to think in more challenging ways” said Lowery.
Students will start to take the PARCC tests during the 2014-2015 school year.
