Common Core State Standards
The Common Core State Standards are a set of learning goals for all students in grades K-12. The public schools in Nevada, and in 45 other states, are moving to implement these new standards. More than 100 Catholic Dioceses across the nation have chosen to do so as well. In the Diocese of Las Vegas our elementary schools began to align their instruction to the Common Core State Standards last year, and will be in full implementation in Kindergarten through eighth grade over the next year.
These new math and English language arts standards identify a progression of skills that students will master as they move through the grades. They replace the old individual states’ standards and ensure that all students across the nation will have access to rigorous and relevant academics. The Common Core State Standards were designed with a focus on college and career readiness. They were written to ensure that American students have the opportunity to reach the same high levels of academic performance as those in the highest performing countries in the world.
It is important to note that the Common Core State Standards set benchmarks and guidelines for what students will learn, but they do not prescribe a particular curriculum or a particular set of teaching strategies. Teachers will continue to use their best professional expertise to design lessons to help their own students meet the standards. In our Catholic schools teachers use a variety of materials and approaches, including traditional textbooks and literature, hands-on learning experiences, technology and digital media, and flexible grouping of students. The Common Core State Standards give us direction and focus.
There is also an exciting national effort, the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative, which is developing resources and guidelines to help schools explicitly integrate Catholic identity into their standards-based instruction. A collaborative effort of the National Catholic Educational Association, Catholic universities, and others, this initiative is now building a collection of English language arts instructional units which incorporate both the new Common Core standards and Catholic identity – Scripture, values, beliefs, practices and teachings of the Church. These materials are freely available to all Catholic schools and we have already begun to use them at our school!
This work of the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative is also aligned with a set of Catholic school effectiveness standards that were drafted by a national task force and reviewed by leaders at Catholic universities, Catholic school superintendents, Bishops, and pastors.
The final document, The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools, was published by Loyola University Chicago last spring. It clearly describes how mission-driven, program effective, well managed, and responsibly governed Catholic schools operate. These standards and benchmarks are very useful for our schools as they continually self-assess and monitor their own school action plans.
Over the next several months, we will share the detailed changes that the new Common Core standards will bring to classroom instruction. We will also look at ways teachers integrate Catholic identity into content area instruction.
The links below include an overview (provided at our back to school registration) as well as a grade level overview.
These new math and English language arts standards identify a progression of skills that students will master as they move through the grades. They replace the old individual states’ standards and ensure that all students across the nation will have access to rigorous and relevant academics. The Common Core State Standards were designed with a focus on college and career readiness. They were written to ensure that American students have the opportunity to reach the same high levels of academic performance as those in the highest performing countries in the world.
It is important to note that the Common Core State Standards set benchmarks and guidelines for what students will learn, but they do not prescribe a particular curriculum or a particular set of teaching strategies. Teachers will continue to use their best professional expertise to design lessons to help their own students meet the standards. In our Catholic schools teachers use a variety of materials and approaches, including traditional textbooks and literature, hands-on learning experiences, technology and digital media, and flexible grouping of students. The Common Core State Standards give us direction and focus.
There is also an exciting national effort, the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative, which is developing resources and guidelines to help schools explicitly integrate Catholic identity into their standards-based instruction. A collaborative effort of the National Catholic Educational Association, Catholic universities, and others, this initiative is now building a collection of English language arts instructional units which incorporate both the new Common Core standards and Catholic identity – Scripture, values, beliefs, practices and teachings of the Church. These materials are freely available to all Catholic schools and we have already begun to use them at our school!
This work of the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative is also aligned with a set of Catholic school effectiveness standards that were drafted by a national task force and reviewed by leaders at Catholic universities, Catholic school superintendents, Bishops, and pastors.
The final document, The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools, was published by Loyola University Chicago last spring. It clearly describes how mission-driven, program effective, well managed, and responsibly governed Catholic schools operate. These standards and benchmarks are very useful for our schools as they continually self-assess and monitor their own school action plans.
Over the next several months, we will share the detailed changes that the new Common Core standards will bring to classroom instruction. We will also look at ways teachers integrate Catholic identity into content area instruction.
The links below include an overview (provided at our back to school registration) as well as a grade level overview.