The Common Core Standards: A New Way to Accelerate?

The phrase David Coleman referenced in his presentation on April 28, in Albany, "a mile wide and an inch deep," resonated with us. We remember numerous teachers lamenting over the years that policy makers "just keep piling it on". We laud this new Common Core philosophy for focusing on what is truly important. What's crucial to learn is to read, write, listen, speak, and compute.  "Reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick".  Let's hope we can truly begin to accelerate reading progress because these new standards are very ambitious. The Grade 6 ELA standards for literature and informational text state that the expected level of proficiency extends up to grade 8—with scaffolding needed at the high end of the range.

So you are probaby wondering, as are we, how do teachers help students make these huge gains if they begin a school year at least a year below grade level? Coleman  asserted that time spent reading complex text is the only proven thing that accelerates ability. When an audience member asked how this new philosophy would affect RTI, his answer was somewhat vague and limited. He argued that much progress must be made at the elementary level; so that by high school, students will be ready for complex texts. But what about the high school students who are already reading below grade level? Will the current RTI guidelines need revision to address the shift from targeted intervention using "instructional texts" to teaching using "complex texts"? This certainly counteracts the replicated acceleration of Reading Recovery, which uses texts that challenge but do not frustrate readers.

How will the research behind RTI be reconciled with the evidence used to design the Common Core standards?  Perhaps the key is to elevate standards at the Tier 1 level (with scaffolding) and to continue to intervene at instructional levels at other times during the day to optimize the combination of instruction. Which acceleration will prove to be more effective?

Nicole  from Vienna Woods