Indiana teachers need Common Core replacement ASAP

A bill signed March 31 by Gov. Mike Pence withdrew Indiana from the Common Core State Standards. Now the State Board of Education must decide on a new set of standards by a July 1 deadline. As a teacher who has helped others prepare for the transition to Common Core for the past four years, I am concerned; educators need to know what standards they will be teaching.

Indiana has committed to “college and career ready” standards through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, releasing the state from certain accountability requirements of the 2002 Federal No Child Left Behind law. As Indiana dumps the Common Core, new standards would likely adhere to many of the same principles. Yet, according to analysis from the conservative Fordham Institute’s Kathleen Porter-Magee, the proposed Indiana standards lack the clarity, rigor and organization of not only the Common Core, but the previous Indiana standards as well.

What precedents are set as we shuffle to put new standards in front of Indiana’s teaching force just before the start of a new school year? Teachers cannot wait until July 1. My colleagues and I start planning our curricula for the following school year now, not mid-summer.

Educators invested countless hours of professional development and planning to align with the Common Core and were ready to teach these clear standards to prepare students for college and careers. Let’s ensure the proposed Indiana standards meet these high expectations.

The general public may not be well informed on the Common Core, but educators are. A recent survey of principals by the National Association of Elementary School Principals found that more than 80 percent of principals agree that the Common Core has the potential to improve conceptual understanding, increase skill mastery and create more meaningful assessments of students. A recent analysis in Edutopia found, “Most educators support the Common Core …. poll after poll shows that approximately 75 percent of teachers support the Common Core standards.”

Despite educator support, Indiana has withdrawn from the Common Core. Now teachers need the new standards as soon as possible. We spent four years preparing for the Common Core, and now frustration and anxiety lie ahead with just weeks between the new standards being released and the start of the school year. The majority of my colleagues and I wanted to stay the course with the Common Core,; however, as our state has chosen a different path, the new standards need to be finalized and in the hands of teachers.

The national spotlight is on Indiana; as those on the far right and far left applaud Pence’s decision, many teachers, parents and students caught in the middle wonder what this instability means for children. Educators have been pushed around enough in the move away from Common Core; we have classrooms to plan for, and our students cannot afford to wait on politics.

Rich is a literary specialist in Washington Township. She is a Teach Plus Policy Fellow alum and an America Achieves Fellow as well as a parent of two daughters.