A School Leader's Guide to Implementing the Common Core

Inclusive Practices for All Students

Gloria D. Campbell-Whatley, David M. Dunaway, Dawson R. Hancock

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138781467
• eBook ISBN: 9781317670681
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación general

This accessible resource addresses the problems, challenges, and issues that general and special education leaders frequently face on a day-to-day basis in implementing the Common Core standards in their schools. Grounded in best practices from current literature, this text provides leaders with practical solutions to working with teachers and differentiating instruction for all students—including students with special needs, ESL, and ELL learners. A School Leader's Guide to Implementing the Common Core presents a cohesive framework and offers viable options for effective inclusive instruction based on students' varied learning needs.

Special Features:

• Vignettes and "Research-Based Practical Tips" offer concrete connections to school contexts and illustrate practical applications
• Explores current trends in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), and Response to Intervention (RTI), and how they relate to the Common Core Standards
• Guides leaders through the development of effective policies for culturally responsive instruction in the classroom

CHAPTER 1 Understanding the Common Core

Gloria D. Campbell-Whatley and David M. Dunaway

DOI: 10.4324/9781315769868-1

Mrs. Strict has a problem with the way Mrs. Adapt is teaching the Common Core State Standards to the students in mathematics. The students with learning disabilities are under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), and they are supposed to have instruction according to the Individual Education Plan (IEP). Do they really expect me to believe that these students with learning disabilities (LD) are college-bound? Mrs. Strategies, the learning disabilities teacher, wants to come in and perform team teaching with me, but I am unsure of her knowledge. Then there are the Tier 2 students who are at risk. They are expecting me to make accommodations. I have been teaching for 25 years, and I am retiring next year and plan on teaching the way I have always taught. After all, we should be readying the smarter students for college. Isn’t that the purpose of the standards? Principal Rules is going to have to settle this difficulty. What is he to do?

Introduction

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a U.S. education initiative that seeks to bring diverse state curricula into alignment by following the principles of standards-based education reform. The goal of the standards is to ensure that students are college- and career-ready at the end of high school. The standards are research- and evidence-based, aligned with college expectations, rigorous, and internationally synonymous for a global society. This chapter will introduce the CCSS and their key components relative to the goals, rigor, criteria, assessment, and evidence-based instruction while addressing the inclusive factor of students with disabilities, at-risk students, young populations, and urban students.

The CCSS connect what is expected of students at each grade level, allowing school-based and special education leaders to properly plan to equip teachers to establish appropriate benchmarks. The standards focus on core concepts starting in the early grades, giving students the opportunity to master them. As these standards are applied across states, new challenges arise as school-based leaders identify special education as a major topic of concern. Students with disabilities are noted in the standards and there is the expectation for them to function within the general curriculum, yet leaders wrestle with the CCSS and how students with special needs will fare in the curriculum (Scruggs, Brigham, & Mastropieri, 2013). It is important that evidenced-based techniques that have a positive effect on students be used as solutions. Because of the many existing principles and evidence-based practices already in effect such as inclusion, Response to Intervention (RTI), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and other shared concepts, school-based leaders must effectively solve problems and appropriately apply and integrate these concepts (Gamm et al., 2012; Haager, 2013). School-based and special education leaders must now merge the CCSS into these standing strategies and methodologies.

The vignette in the opening of the chapter demonstrates that school and special education leaders may have to provide additional guidance for teachers to assist students, especially those with disabilities, at risk, or in various settings such as rural or urban environments. Not only will teachers be faced with learning and successfully implementing a new set of expectations in their classrooms, but they will need to be aware of the learning needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Because of the large influx of immigrants, school-based leaders have to make plans for English language learners (ELLs), which require unique decisions as they relate to the U.S. school systems. These students will be held to the same high standards and rigorous grade-level expectations in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Many of these initiatives are implemented in the general education setting; therefore, special education leaders must work collaboratively to assure effective application. Both general and special education leaders must work with specialized clientele and coordinate these aspects of the entire spectrum of responsibilities in the school and need resources to perceive how these concepts link together and operate in unison.

CCSS: An Overview

The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life. The criteria were developed by incorporating standards from states in America and foreign countries. Specifically, they are research- and evidence-based and used by other top-performing countries in order to prepare all students for success in our global economy and society (Understanding the Common Core Standards, 2014).

The goal is to produce high-quality academic standards in mathematics, English language arts (E/LA)/literacy, science, and technology while outlining learning goals as to what a student should know and demonstrate at the end of each grade. They define what all students are expected to know and be able to do, not how teachers should teach. In other words, the standards focus on what is most essential, but interventions and strategies are left to the discretion of teachers and curriculum developers. There are standards for content area literacy, but supports for readiness are not fully described for ELLs and for students with special needs.

Almost all states have adopted the CCSS, even with reservations from parents, political figures, and school personnel (Understanding the Common Core Standards, 2014). The standards, launched in 2009, were developed by a group of non-profit and bipartisan organizations rather than federal dollars. These organizations’ main interest was to promote higher academic standards (i.e., College Board, ACT). Originally, the standards addressed only E/LA in 2011; however, Achieve Inc., in conjunction with other educational entities (i.e., National Research Council, The National Science Teachers Association, etc.), included science and engineering. The U.S. Department of Education was not involved in developing the standards, but has supported their adoption by providing Race-to-the-Top funding and the development and field-testing of assessments (Understanding the Common Core Standards, 2014). Already, it has been estimated that 85 percent of the mathematics and E/LA content are taught to elementary, middle, and high schools, thereby leaving only 15 percent autonomy for state education and local education agencies (LEAs) (Heitin, 2014).

E/LA and Math Standards

The standards offer guidelines for E/LA and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. These are intertwined because students learn to apply language arts skills in the content areas. Therefore, the standards are designed to promote the literacy skills necessary for college and career readiness in multiple and varied disciplines and content areas. In other words, the literacy standards expect teachers to use content areas to help students master reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language through integration of literacy skills across content areas. States determine how to suffuse these standards into their existing standards.

Literacy

The skills and knowledge captured in the E/LA and literacy standards are designed to prepare students for life outside the classroom. Since the standards are designed to prepare students for everyday life, critical thinking skills are heavily used and subscribe to the definition that a truly literate person can incorporate these skills.

Within the standards are design considerations that include vertically aligned expectations with mastery of each grade level to succeed at the next level. The CCSS define college readiness as the ability to work independently, understand complex information across a wide range of literary and technical sources, and develop the voice to express key points and ideas. The standards emphasize that students should learn to read with purpose, listen rather than just hear, and share their understanding of acquired knowledge through writing and speech.

CCSS require students to communicate according to the uniqueness of the audience, the task, the purpose, and the nature of the content discipline. The goal is to become selective readers and listeners and be able to grasp a writer or speaker’s purpose while evaluating the foundations and assumptions presented. Technology including various forms of media is used to communicate meaning and points of view.

The E/LA standards are taught across subjects. Specifically, reading and writing standards are defined for several subjects such as English, history, social studies, science, and technical subjects (Unders...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Meet the Authors
• 1 Understanding the Common Core
• 2 Connecting the Dots to Educational Planning
• 3 Data-Driven Formal and Informal Measures
• 4 Young Children and Their Families
• 5 English Learners: It’s More Than Getting an Interpreter
• 6 Children in Urban Centers
• 7 Children with Disabilities and Those At Risk
• 8 The Common Core Standards, UDL, RTI: Marriage, Merger, Partnership
• 9 Differentiating the Common Core Curriculum