Grinding Gears

My dad taught me how to drive stick shift in a beat up 1965 Flat-Front Ford Econoline pickup we borrowed from Hesston College, where he was a professor.  The pickup, as opposed to the one pictured below, was maroon (school colors) and had the “three on the tree” manual transmission.  During the learning process, I put that poor Econoline through plenty of gear grinding, stalling, and jerk-starts.  Eventually, with a great deal of patience and lots of instruction from my dad, I figured it out.  Since that broiling summer day in Kansas, every other stick shift thrown my way has been much easier to deal with.  That’s the way shifting—and learning—works.

At the state and national level, the debate about Common Core State Standards continues.  It leaves us in a bit of quandary.  Preparing for the unknown is a little tricky, but not preparing could be even more problematic.

While acknowledging the uncertainty, we should continue to look at what is coming down the pike, and we would do well to be able to speak somewhat knowledgeably to parents, family, and friends about CCSS.  One way to get a handle on what soon may be our new reality is to look at the differences between the Common Core literacy standards and our current standards.  According to the Indiana Department of Education, when we move to Common Core State Standards, we will be in for four “Major Shifts.”

Shift 1: Emphasizing Informational Texts

Shift 2: Literacy Standards for All Content Areas

Shift 3: Text Complexity

Shift 4: The Special Place of Argument

Shifts 1 and 2 have lots of overlap.  In secondary schools, the expectation is that all teachers are literacy teachers.  This means that all of us will continue to be reading, writing, and thinking teachers.  The literacy standards will be taught primarily using informational texts.  For high school students, up to 70% of their reading should be in informational texts.  Of course, some reading of informational texts takes place in the English classroom, but the lion’s share of reading informational texts will take place in the other content areas.  With CCSS, in all content areas, students will be doing much more “reading and writing to learn.”

Shift 3 is about text complexity, which refers to having opportunities for students to read challenging texts.  If you haven’t already, soon you will hear a great deal about “close reading.”  Close reading is careful and purposeful reading—more accurately, it is re-reading.  With each return passage into the text, the students uncover deeper layers of meaning about the content, the author’s purpose, or how the structure contributes to meaning.  You will have students spend extended time with important texts, and close reading will likely impact your in-class questioning as well.  When you ask questions, students will justify answers with evidence from the text, which is a nice segue to the fourth shift.

Shift 4 is about argument.  Creating and defending arguments is a crucial component of the CCSS.  Even at the elementary level, the CCSS call for students to make and justify arguments, either written or oral. This culminates in high school with students routinely developing, defending, and analyzing complex arguments in all content areas. 

Interestingly enough, both the Teacher Effectiveness and Development System (TEDS) and our own school-wide goals fit well with the direction the Common Core is taking us.  This does not mean that the shifts will be easy or that we won’t grind some gears as we learn to drive this truck.  We are, however, definitely moving in the right direction to meet the challenges presented by the Common Core.

Sometime soon you will probably be asked what the Common Core is all about.  When you are asked these questions, describing the four major shifts may be helpful. 

Hop on in, HSE.  Give it some gas, pop the clutch, and keep on truckin’.  Have a great week.

Phil

PS: Speaking of trucking and for no particular reason, do those of you from my era remember this picture?