Checking in with Common Core Implementation in Florida

I would be really interested to hear of any resources out there for ELL/IEP kids. We, too, are struggling with this in our district, as well as the first implementation of the CCSS.

I am conflicted on a daily basis since experiencing the illogical and profoundly disconnected perspectives concerning curriculum, writing, and infrastructure in two different counties in South Florida. No school district has it all together; during my years with the Chicago Public Schools' District, I was consistetnly reminded that polictics, and top-down authority still pervade the rhythm of education, even when the 'lips' are speaking about "Transformational Leadership". Nevertheless, I am concerned about Florida because this is now where I am raising my own children. As a professional writer, I have been trying, in my role as a Writing Coach, to support a critical-thinking based movement toward real, college and career ready writing that is demanded of students in the CCCCS and assessed on the PARCC. However, the district-level 'leaders' keep telling me that now we deal with the FCAT; teachers and students can't just begin learning how to think / write this 'new' way all at once; we just have to pass the FCAT Writes. Then, to make matters worse, I read our district's 'practice' FCAT Writes diagnostics that are forced upon teachers and students at least five times in one year: The prompts are not only poorly written, have absolutely no relevance to students' life experiences, are vague, lack the blending of elements NEEDED for rigorous writing pieces (IE: if an author's purpose is to perusade, he / she still must EXPLAIN certain points, if an author's purpose is to narrate, he / she still must explain... and sometimes, persuade if the author's purpose is to ultimately persuade an audience to believe his / her beliefs contained within this narrative)...but a couple were even grammatically incorrect! And the district expects students to write well? Really? Then we field tested the FCAT Writes at my school, and though I was at least grateful for the variation in writing prompts, and that there were no major grammar / stylistic errors, it was still the same trite, formulaic prompt as before. Here's what I ultimately don't understand: The research shows, and has shown, that 'good' writing (for lack of a better word) and 'good' thinking go hand in hand. The five paragraph essay format has no place in college and career readiness standards. Multiple choice questions, rote memorization, and only whole language do not equate to critical thinking skills, and will be more or less obsolete on the PARCC because of the CCCS. Our county is trying desperately to integrate effective instructional practices via Marzano, yet many in the curriculum part of the district, criticize teachers when time is spent simply discussing issues with students, or when teachers are not "keeping pace with the scope / sequence", which is written by these people at the district curriculum level who, for the most part, don't know how to align curriculum to effective, differentiated, vertically aligned, interdisciplinary, experiential-based, teaching or thinking. Wait, doesn't Marzano suggest informal formative assessments, questioning techniques, a classroom climate that has students tracking their own progress, and... yes, I am going to say it... THINKING? ... Shouldn't the standardized test at the end of the year be one of the easiest things a student has to do? Shouldn't the work they do in the classroom be more challenging than a standardized test, which we've known at least since the 1950s cannot truly measure potential, ability, capability, et al? If the goal is merely to help them "pass the FCAT / FCAT Writes Test", then statistically, realistically, many will fall short. If the 'bar' is all students are geared to reach, then only a few will reach and even fewer will exceed. But, what if our goal, our 'bar' far exceeded this test, this fallacious measure of 'ability', then, more students would be able to reach this level / this 'bar', more would exceed it, and even fewer would fall below it. It's common sense... But I guess, "Common Sense 'ain't that common"...

"The Common Core State Standards are redesigning how we teach. Replacing workbooks and scripted textbooks with more student-generated, authentic work that keeps students engaged and active is an arduous and time-consuming process that daunts many teachers." There is nothing in the CC standards that calls for "authentic work"; in fact it isn't even defined. Nor is there a requirement that teaching be student-centered, and it certainly doesn't call for inquiry-based approaches. I believe that there is a pedagogical bias inherent in the Common Core standards (at least in math) in requiring students to "explain" and "understand", which has been interpreted in the way that you have phrased it.