[New York Urban League (NYUL) BETHUNE FELLOWSHIP PROJECT]

Bethune Fellow, New York Urban League (Arva Rice= CEO; Alain Robert= Education Policy Coordinator)

COHORT: Clark [Common Core Implementation]

[#ARVARICE | #ALAINROBERT | #CHANDRATRAVIS | #EDUCATORS4EXCELLENCE | #TEACHINGMATTERS]

PART 1: NY COMMON CORE TASK FORCE

1) The State’s original process to adopt the more than 1,500 Common Core Standards failed to include meaningful input by educators and was not done in a sufficiently open and transparent manner.

2) The Common Core Standards do not adequately address unique student populations, such as English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities.

3) There are concerns that students are spending too much time preparing for and taking tests and that teachers were only “teaching to the test.”

4) There is widespread belief that the curriculum does not allow for local district input, lacks breadth, and is too one-size-fits-all.

5) The State-provided curriculum created by the State Education Department (SED) is complicated and difficult to use.

6) The Common Core Standards may not be age-appropriate in early grades including K-2.

7) The Common Core tests do not properly account for Students with Disabilities and create unnecessary duplicative testing for English Language Learners.

8) The Standards are too rigid and need to be adaptable with more local school district and educator input.

9) There was a lack of State Education Department (SED) transparency and of parent, educator, and other stakeholder engagement in the development of the Common Core-aligned tests by the corporation hired by SED.

10) There was not enough time for teachers to develop curriculum aligned to the Common Core because much of the sample curriculum resources were not available until after the Common Core Standards were already adopted in schools--------------------------------------------------------

PART 2: FEEDBACK (200+Words)

The Common Core Task Force implicates the importance of including parents in student academia. It must be noted that it takes a village meaning that there must be a combined effort to achieve its necessary goals. Additionally, the task force suggests that there is as resources become more extensive more improvements will be made within the common core as it relates to teachers and parents. The task force indicates that once changes are made then progress will be tracked. However, it introduces recommendations that need to be reviewed for accuracy so that the Common Core becomes a hit in schools. On one hand, I agree with ensuring standards do not lead to the narrowing of curriculum or diminish the love of reading and joy of learning and modifying early grade standards so they are age-appropriate. It is very important to keep students alert and on track when learning in the classroom. Also, it is very important to standardize learning so that it is workable and easy to follow. Moreover, I also agree with adopting high quality New York education standards with input from local districts, educators, and parents through an open and transparent process and launching a digital platform that enables teachers, including pre-service teachers, and teacher educators, to share resources with other teachers across the state. Keeping everyone informed is crucial and as well as creating avenues that make learning interactive and worthwhile. On the other hand, I have to argue with gathering student feedback on the quality of the new tests, and ensuring educators and local school districts have the flexibility to develop and tailor curriculum to the new standards. It is important to indicate that students may not take the feedback seriously and thus may not provide their honest opinion or account of how they perceive educational standards within the common core. Additionally, instructors may not be given the allotted time to cater to their students specifically and the curriculum may not include various concepts, policies and procedures. Teachers and students are directly responsible for providing proper and adequate instruction while students are held accountable for studying the subject and learning the lessons at home so they can show they mastered the subject when the complete their exams. This whole idea of personalized learning cannot exist if both parties do not fit the bill and do their jobs. However, there are flaws that come with the personalized learning. First of all, when is the time to personalize? Also, where do this take place? With that in mind, the students hold ownership of their academic performance and their respective parents hold the responsibility of reinforcement and guidance throughout their child’s academic tenure.

Part 3: “Personalized Learning: What is it?”

Assumptions: The entire collaborative effort helps facilitate personalize learning. It is the teachers’ duty to provide adequate instruction and the students’ duty to study the subject at home and then master the subject.

Argue: Teachers lead effective and optimally paced instruction and activate and advise students, in ways that accelerate learning and reduce gaps. Students advance through material only after they have demonstrated true mastery of a concept, ensuring they are neither bored nor lost.

Act upon: Digital tools assist with student performance

Digital tools assist with student performance assessments, real-time student feedback, lesson delivery, and enable students to work with peers and teachers in and out of the classroom. This approach encourages students to do the most relevant, challenging work they can while giving teachers more time to help students make breakthroughs when they get stuck.

With personalized learning, teachers and students collaborate to design the best learning approaches for students, depending on the task and subject. Teachers lead effective and optimally paced instruction and activate and advise students, in ways that accelerate learning and reduce gaps. Students advance through material only after they have demonstrated true mastery of a concept, ensuring they are neither bored nor lost. This approach also creates opportunities for students to learn skills and habits of success, such as self-motivation and persistence.

Argue: Some teachers are not willing to answer specific/certain questions and some students parouse through material without properly understanding it……thus flunking tests later on….because they have questions that may be considered too stupid or too rudimentary to ask.

Agree: Personalized learning is accomplished using a mix of approaches that employ the best of what we now already works - from traditional teacher-led lessons and one-on-one time with a teacher to discussions with peers and lessons students can interact with at home.

In personalized learning settings, teachers assess students’ strengths and needs to create learning plans that are aligned with each students interests, while maintaining strong academic standards. This collaboration allows students to take greater ownership of their learning while enabling teachers to work with them to discover their passions and interests.

Part 4: “Continued Progress”: PROMISING EVIDENCE ON PERSONALIZED LEARNING

Assumptions= Students in schools that specialize in personalized learning excel more than students in other schools. Particularly, students in these schools improve far more in Math and Language Arts.

Argue= In this study, the researchers looked at how a subset of 32

schools implemented five specific strategies of personalized

learning that included learner profiles, personal learning paths, competency-based progression, flexible learning environments, and a focus on college and career readiness and found that schools adopted these components to varying degrees. The extension of existing practices such as providing students with more one-on-one support was more common while practices that are more challenging to implement, such as competency-based

progression, were less common.

(why 32, too many experimental), could have been error)

Note-taking skills, essay writing (most charter= data may be skewed disproportionally)

Agree= Personal learning paths involve providing a variety of instructional approaches and supports to allow flexibility in student paths through content. All schools provided time for teachers to give students individual support. Three quarters of the schools used a variety of instructional formats. Fewer schools offered opportunities for students to learn outside of school and these opportunities were not substantially different from those offered in traditional environments. Students’ ability to choose a path or project varied by age, course, and teacher. Older students tended to experience more choice than younger ones.

Flexible learning environments describe arranging resources

such as time, staff, and physical space to respond to student

needs, adjusting to what teachers glean from data. Whether it’s

the grouping of desks or the scheduling of classes, the environment is designed to support personalization. It also integrates technology. About three quarters of administrators said that learning time at their schools was flexible and responsive to student needs. Most schools had extended school days or school years, and the extra time was used primarily for additional instruction or to provide individualized support. Educators at many of the schools are thinking flexibly about how staff are used for instruction and student support.

Act upon= Learner profiles encompass using data including academic tests, projects, and student behavior and aspirations to gauge students’ progress and help them develop and refine learning goals. All of the schools in the sample used data from different sources to understand student progress, half developed personalized goals for students, and two thirds provided data to students and discussed it with them.