Students at the Core of this Week’s Legislation
Leaders in the state senate have filed a new bill, and it could have an effect on every one of us Kentucky public school students.
Senate Bill 224 represents an attempt to dismantle the Kentucky Core Academic Standards (KCAS), related to math and English and language arts content, and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). It will be heard in committee Thursday, March 13th, while we, the greatest stakeholders, are still in school.
The idea behind the Common Core State Standards, implemented as KCAS in Kentucky, is to better prepare us for adult life in the global community and to ensure that students in every district in the country benefit from consistency in substance and rigor at every grade level.
What is that supposed to look like for those of us at the classroom level? Ideally, KCAS means less rote memorization in math with a greater emphasis on showing the work and applying formulas. In English, we should notice an emphasis on reading and writing critiques and forming arguments that are based on evidence, not unsubstantiated opinions. Under KCAS, we are also likely to see our teachers facilitating group discussions and problem-solving rather than giving us information through a more traditional lecture.
At least a few successful high school students who understand what this initiative is trying to do see the logic behind it: Students at the Core of this Week’s Legislation: