The Wisconsin Senate and Assembly Select Committees for Review of the Common Core Standards Initiative hearing takes place between 2 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Northcentral Technical College, 1000 W. Campus Dr., Wausau. The Tomahawk School District supports the standards as noted in an article in the Oct. 29 Tomahawk Leader. The following is a guest commentary: "Common Core Standards imperative to our students." This op-ed piece was penned by Wisconsin's State Teachers of the Year. "This is the second time in our state's history that we have taken a stand and shared a ground floor view of an issue that impacts each and every one of our students. The issue is the Common Core State Standards, which we believe is imperative to give our students a chance in this challenging, flat economic world," notes Terry Kaldhusdal, Wisconsin Elementary Teacher of the Year-2007, Kohl Fellowship Award-2006, Wisconsin History Teacher of the Year-2011, Kettle Moraine School District.
The Wisconsin State Teachers of the Year Network has a classroom perspective on the current debate regarding Common Core State Standards. For us, this is neither a political issue nor a union issue. Our view is based on our students' needs. These higher standards will allow our students to be college and career ready. It is not an attempt to pack our students' minds with an authoritative list of facts brought down from the mountaintop. Instead it demands that our students be able to read a complex text and understand it. It demands that our students learn to understand a problem and then use the skills necessary to solve it.
The Common Core is a nonpartisan, grassroots effort by a wide collection of state educators, State Superintendents, and Governors. We see this as an attempt to strengthen public education, the foundation of our democracy, economy, and security.
For several years now, we have studied Common Core State Standards and test driven them in our classrooms, and we believe it holds our students to a higher standard compared to the standards of the past. We embrace the fact that for the first time in our state's history Wisconsin students will be held accountable to clear and consistent standards from grades K through 12.
This push to improve public education is not new. In fact, the most recent shift goes back to 1983, when President Ronald Reagan commissioned a report known as a "Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform." That watershed report fueled the growing sense that education in America was declining. The findings touched off a wave of local, state, and federal reform efforts that sparked the current movement. The drive continued in 2002, when President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the first nation-wide effort to support "standards-based education." The idea was for states to set high standards, establish an annual assessment, and hold schools responsible for their students' success. NCLB brought a new era of accountability, particularly in reading, writing, and math.
While the NCLB goal of improving student achievement was admirable, it failed miserably across the nation, including Wisconsin. Instead of raising the bar, many states lowered their standards. They gamed the system and failed our students. The poster child for this failure was Mississippi. Ninety percent of Mississippi students in 4th grade were considered proficient in reading after the 2006-2007 school year. That meant their schools were the best in the nation. There was one problem: when Mississippi parents asked, "How is my child doing?" And they were told, "He's right where he needs to be." That was a lie.
When Mississippi students were judged on a nationally normed test (National Assessment of Educational Progress) those incredible test scores didn't drop, they crashed. Only 19% of Mississippi fourth graders were proficient in reading that same year. Don't think for a moment that this was solely a Mississippi problem. We use Mississippi's data because it is so dramatic.
The Common Core State Standards allow our students to compete with those overseas. That's the first step in improving our state's education system since our students are now competing with those graduates in China, Germany, and Brazil. Because the standards of the past cannot be compared with those of our foreign competitors, Wisconsin's test scores will drop. This is not a problem we should run away from; this is a problem we should embrace. Our state has never been afraid of facing the major problems of the day. Why would we now? We will know for the first time how our students rate with those in South Carolina and South Korea.
In a collaborative spirit, with ample opportunity for public comment, the Common Core framework for high academic and realistic standards was developed. In an era of political divisiveness where gridlock is the status quo, collaboration should be applauded. We should anticipate growing pains as existing standards are phased out. However, what we should not tolerate is political saber rattling and delays that undermine the work being done to improve education for all Wisconsin students.
As strong and vocal advocates for public education, we take heart that more than 45 states and territories have agreed to adopt a system that assures that children in Wisconsin are held to demanding and consistent standards. As state teachers of the year who have been recognized for excellence and innovation in the classroom, we gladly accept the framework the Common Core offers. We need the assurance that all students, whether in rural, suburban, or urban classrooms, are held to the same high expectations.
In the words of one of our students, "Those standards make sense. When I moved here from my old town, I spent the first year relearning everything I learned the year before. It was a waste." Her "old town" was just 15 miles down the road. In a fast-moving, globally competitive world, we cannot afford to waste our children's time.
Implementation of the Common Core is movement in the right direction. By coming together and having a rigorous and relevant education we will secure our children's and our state's future in an ever-changing world.