Allow teachers to help shape new standards

As classroom teachers with very high expectations and Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellows, we hear the governor. To craft strong state standards, we must consider what we are asking of our students, the clarity we are providing our teachers, and how we will assess our state’s progress toward these educational goals. If our state’s true intention is to ensure that our children are held to high expectations, state officials must ensure that teachers are driving the development of assessments for the new Indiana Standards. We applaud the state’s decision to slow down the drafting process, but we worry about the haphazard implementation and unhelpful assessments.

When Common Core was adopted in 2010, educators all over the state began the extensive, hard work of revising curriculum. Teachers studied the new standards, gathered resources and planned extensively. Districts developed new curriculum units and began to adapt instruction. We crafted new in-class assessments calibrated to the new standards and began preparing our classrooms and our students for a different level of accountability. All of this took tremendous time and effort.

It is imperative that we exercise the same care in analyzing the proposed new Indiana Standards that we did with the deliberate, carefully planned rollout of the Common Core State Standards..

If the new standards for the 2014-2015 school year are to be released late this summer, teachers and principals will have mere weeks to internalize the new standards, adapt curriculum and develop classroom assessments before students return in September. As educators, we are telling you that this work will be close to impossible to execute with fidelity. We therefore encourage the state to implement a ‘soft’ launch — keep the current assessment framework and standards for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year, and encourage teachers to mix in the new State Standards as was done with the Common Core.

After the new standards are approved, the critical work for state education leaders will be to develop rigorous, accurate assessments. The state’s classroom experts must play a central role. As teachers, we take state standards and break them down into bite-sized daily objectives, and build curriculum based on those objectives; we and our students will be held accountable to these new assessments and we need a voice in their creation.

We agree with the governor — we must have high expectations for Hoosier students. But if we are truly going to raise expectations, it is going to take a statewide effort and certainly a more coherent process. A rushed, less-than-thorough implementation of standards and assessments would be a huge disservice to teachers, parents and students in our state. Developing rigorous assessments will require significant teacher input; we are ready for that hard work.

This letter is signed by the Indianapolis Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellows: Carey Ciochina, Raymond Park Middle School, Warren Township; Megan Cooper, The Oaks Academy; Joe Gramelspacher, Crispus Attucks High School, IPS; Emanuel Harper, Herron High School; Kelly Hannon, George Washington Community High School, IPS; Ashley Hebda, Indianapolis Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy; Tony Homan, The Oaks Academy; Megan Kinsey, Indianapolis Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy; Christina Lear, Herron High School; Natalie Merz, Clarence L Farrington School 61, IPS; Jacob Pactor, Speedway High School; Rachel Quinn, Harshman Magnet Middle School, IPS; Jennifer Rogers, Creston Intermediate Academy, Warren Township; Alyssa Starinsky, Carpe Diem; Joel Thomas, Indianapolis Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy; John Ulbright, Ben Davis High School, Wayne Township; Kimberly Williams, Christel House DOR.