Editorial

State must get Common Core right this time

Posted

Here we go again: The New York State Education Department is revising its grades-three-to-eight English and math standards. We can only say, with fingers crossed, that we hope the state will get it right this time.

In 2012, the Education Department overhauled the standards under the Common Core banner. It offered little to no training for teachers. Then it forced students to endure hours-long annual exams that many, if not most, were wholly unprepared for.

It’s little wonder that the so-called opt-out movement was born four years ago. Parents have, in recent years, kept their children out of the exams by the tens of thousands because they understood that the tests were fundamentally flawed and unfair –– to the detriment of children’s well-being.

Last year, some 200,000 students in third to eighth grades did not sit for the Common Core exams. That sent a resounding signal to the state: Change was needed.

So the state impaneled educators and parents to review the Common Core standards. According to an Education Department news release, committees examined all of the English Language Arts and mathematics criteria, and recommended changes to 60 percent of the English standards and 55 percent of the math standards. As the committees considered those changes, however, they “focused on ensuring that the standards continue to be rigorous and challenge New York’s students to do more,” the release read.

We hope and trust that the revision process is not simply a political stunt meant to assuage angry parents. We hope that it will bring about real and lasting change.

Jeanette Deutermann, who leads the Long Island Opt-Out Movement, is doubtful. She said she believes the state has done relatively little to enact meaningful changes to the curricula. Time will tell.

No matter what, the state must better train teachers in the new standards. How can they teach to benchmarks that they themselves do not fully understand? And the state should phase in the standards over time, giving students and educators a chance to adjust.

In the meantime, all of us can offer our views on the new standards. The Education Department is currently accepting public comments on them. Now is the time to make your voices heard. The new draft learning standards for ELA and mathematics are available on the Education Department’s AIMHighNY website for public review and comment. To review the new draft ELA criteria, visit www.nysed.gov/draft-standards-english-language-arts. To review the new draft math standards, go to www.nysed.gov/draft-standards-mathematics.