Heavy load awaits new Common Core committee - by John Fensterwald
by John Fensterwald
The State Board of Education tomorrow is expected to appoint the 20 educators who will do the heavy lifting over the next 18 months of fleshing out the Common Core English language arts standards. Their document, the curriculum framework, will guide teachers’ instruction by offering examples of best practices, links to useful materials, and suggestions on how to teach critical thinking and good writing. It will also provide tips and techniques for teaching English learners, based on the new English Learner Development Standards, which the State Board also is expected to adopt tomorrow.
More than 100 educators applied for positions on the Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee (item 5 on the agenda), which will complete its work in May 2014.
There are fundamental similarities between the current California ELA standards and the Common Core ELA standards that should ease the minds of teachers. However, there are also key differences, with a sharp shift away from teaching literature to teaching informational texts – manuals, scientific articles, arguments, and analyses – in middle and high school. Common Core also encourages the integration of history and science in literacy instruction.
The Instructional Quality Commission, chaired by former State Superintendent Bill Honig, is
