Learning & Leading Through Technology

of innovators, curiosity seekers, and robust thinkers.

The Common Core gives us a starting point for this century, not the goal line. It generates a knowledge base and skill set that will empower our nation today. In 50 years, today’s students will confront the same challenge of moving the bar forward so that their children will be ready to build better communities, enhance the public forum, develop new technologies, and promote the common good. Let us prepare them to be able to take on the future.

—Brian Coffey, MEd, is a STEM coordinator for the PAST Foundation ( pastfoundation.org). He has 12 years’ experience as a mentor, teacher, and teaching coach. He resides with his wife and four children near Columbus, Ohio, USA.

data to support that it will lead to better outcomes than previous programs. And the data, when it starts to accumulate, will no doubt be contentious and subjected to political spin. The program will be both assaulted and supported, and educators will need to demonstrate grit to allow Common Core to adapt as warranted by the data, not political winds.

Significant change in our educational system may take a decade. I’m doubtful that many educators or politicians will be able to wait that long before they declare Common Core a success or failure.

—Steve Taffee is a former educator who currently consults in the areas of strategic planning, faculty development, and technology integration. Read his blog at taffee.edublogs.org.

Here’s what other ISTE members had to say about this topic.

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Be Flexible

[There is a] concern about single-path education.

There are too many different ways to learn and so many forms of intelligence. If it were easy to unify these methods, we would have done it by now. We cannot let discipline focus become teaching the tools.

Clinton Knight Computer Support Specialist Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Beyond the Snapshot

[As] math and reading are the priority and the only subjects tested by the majority of states, the Common Core is feeding a mentality that snapshot tests are the only [way] to measure a person’s abilities. I prefer the Next Generation Science Standards, where the integration of subjects is motivated by problem solving.

Diane Potts Professional Development Consultant New Jersey Association of Educators Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Higher-Order Thinking Above All

The most important thing to confront is the creation and promotion of intellectual abilities, especially thinking, analyzing, and creating, which should be part of the theory/practice of all parts of the curriculum.

Otto Menéndez Dentist/Educator Guatemala City, Guatemala

The Problem with Tests

The library information literacy research standards and ISTE Standards [formerly the NETS] embedded in the Common Core are more accurately assessed through portfolios and project-based learning. If we test only the quantifiable standards, we fail our students.

Kristina Holzweiss Creator of www.commoncoreconversation.com New York City, New York, USA

Hard Standards for Soft Skills

The standards are repetitive exercises of the “soft skills” constructed to emphasize higher-order thinking skills that enhance the ability to cope with future challenges in career or personal life. They teach students how to process situations, regardless of environment.

Diana Bidulescu Media Arts Magnet Coordinator Houston, Texas, USA

Common Standards, Individual Differences

How does the Common Core measure the learning gains for an 11th grade student who is learning the foundations of HVAC? He may go on to a well-paying career, yet his success cannot be well measured by these standards we use to gauge collective success.

Duscha Ross Instructional Technology Specialist Pensacola, Florida, USA

Teach Them to Be Resourceful

The Common Core provides a structure for delivering content and skills [that] is helpful for providing congruence across the nation. But we must remember that we want professionals who can problem solve, be relational, and think creatively, as those people know how to find their own content when they need it.

Lindsay P. Grow, EdD Assistant Professor of Education Grand View University Des Moines, Iowa, USA

A Boon for STEM

One criticism of U.S. education has been that curriculum is “a mile wide and an inch deep.” A major consequence has been the dwindling numbers of students entering college degree programs in math, science, and engineering. The Common Core is designed to better prepare students to think critically for the deeper understanding and problem solving that is needed in many fields, especially math and science.

Phyllis Cavallone, Principal Daniel Foertsch, Educational Consultant St. Therese Chinese Catholic School Chicago, Illinois, USA

All Good Skills

The Common Core prepares students to write for a variety of tasks, purposes, and audiences. It concentrates on speaking and listening skills that develop students’ ability to discuss collaboratively, build on the ideas of others, and present their conclusions effectively. The Common Core focuses on developing a richer and deeper understanding that equips students to solve multilayered problems and apply this understanding when certain variables change.