How To “Harness The Momentum.”

I was pleased to see that Superintendent Osborne has decided to stay here in Maplewood-South Orange, and that he feels our district has gained some “momentum” in the right direction. I had been thinking that his statement gave me the perfect opportunity to tell all of you what I think is at stake in this Board election. But as I put the finishing touches on this essay, the New York Times did my work for me. I hope and trust that every voter in Maplewood and South Orange, every participant in our school system, has read this article: http://tinyurl.com/n8od38p

                The Common Core is my own area of expertise, and the issue I wanted to bring forward in this election. Let me explain who I am, why I put my name in this race, and then return to the shot-across-the-bow that anyone can see in the New York State results.   

My wife Marina and I have lived here for eleven years, have our two children in the school system, and have been actively involved with some of the positive educational change cited by Dr. Osborne: we spearheaded the movement to bring the IB here and are happy to see that the first 6th grade class will commence this fall.  Our older son participated in the first year of Model UN, an activity we strongly supported. I have long advocated for National History Day, was pleased to see us enter this year, and served as a state judge in New Jersey. We have also seen the benefits of a full day Kindergarten program; more detailed rubrics and assessments; the roll-out of Singapore math, and many other improvements.

Momentum indeed, but then we get to the Common Core – the issue that made me feel that I needed to speak up and speak out. The first round of tests are coming to New Jersey this spring, and I am deeply concerned that we are not ready. For, in addition to training school and public librarians at Rutgers University and writing and editing books for middle grade and young adult readers, I speak and give workshops around the country as states adopt the Common Core state standards. My overriding concern is that all of the board candidates – and every voter in Maplewood and South Orange – be aware of the challenge the CC presents to our children, teachers, librarians, and administrators. This election is the moment for us to take stock, plan, and make sure we do indeed continue to improve. 

When I have brought up the matter of the Common Core to people in Maplewood and South Orange most do not know what it is, what it means, whether it is a good idea, and what parents, children, or schools should do.  So let me take the opportunity of this Op-Ed to explain.

The Common Core State Standards were created because the students graduating from our high schools nationwide have shown themselves to be unready for year 13 – the year after high school. This is borne out in the high percentage of students admitted into two-year colleges who cannot finish in six-years (in New York City, for example, experts have reported that only 12% of students enrolled in two-year colleges finish by the sixth year); the reportedly 1/3 of all college students who require remediation, and the many vocational and technological jobs that go unfilled. Even here in our district Dr. Osborne has expressed concern at the high percentage of our Columbia graduates who do not finish college in six years.

The CC is not, as some on the left have feared, a plan to turn kids into test-driven drones trained to serve corporations, nor, as the Tea Party claims, a government conspiracy to capture information about our children. The CC is not a misapplication of Ivy League standards to children with very different needs and abilities. Indeed the CC itself is not what matters. Rather the CC is a serious effort – managed state by state but taking place across the nation – to give our children, all of our children, their very best chance at being successful in whatever path their life takes after they graduate high school. The troubling results from New York are actually extremely useful. We are finding out how behind students are now, while still in school, rather than after, when they and their families have to fend for themselves.

A very small group of experts looked at the skills – not the content – a student would need after graduating to do well in the next phase of his/her life and then back-formed year by year to see what skills that student would need to acquire. They then pitched their ladder of skills to the national governors’ conference for each state to consider. Forty-six states adopted the new standards for English Language Arts, 45 for Math, and it is not yet clear how many will take Next Generation Science. New Jersey is on board.

According to Student Achievement Partners (www.achievethecore.org) – a key CC resource --the Common Core standards in English Language Arts come down to three new emphases:  1) a focus on content-rich non-fiction (that is non-fiction that leads to further inquiry, greater depth, more connections); 2) a greatly increased attention to finding evidence in the text – that is, a student is to conduct research from elementary school on, and to base his/her research, speaking and writing on details and arguments in the material, not on his/her subjective responses; 3) ever-increasing exposure to complex texts with their demanding and even academic vocabulary. In other words, we have to train students to read carefully, expose them to more non-fiction (not limited, as it so often is, to memoirs or inspirational biographies), recognize what is in the text, compare and contrast that with other sources, and to be able to navigate the kind of demanding contentions they will encounter in the outside world.

This is wonderful – the focus on close reading and critical thinking is what our children need in order to face a world where, above and beyond college, vocation, and career decisions, they will have to read and vote on complex questions related to, say, ecology, energy, and global warming; national security and determining what level of surveillance of citizens is justifiable; health policies, ethics, and genetics. But the CC is also demanding. New York State put a great deal of money (much more in both dollars and per-student percentage than New Jersey) into preparing schools for the tests (indeed an extremely useful site for CC information is www.engageny.org ) and that Times article shows what a steep climb they face.

I travel around the country talking about all of this, and seeing what schools are doing to prepare, and then I come home. While I have seen evidence of some attention to CC standards—more nonfiction in our son’s 3rd grade ELA assignments; Social Studies assessments that demand several points of view; IB which coincides with many of the parameters set forth in the CC--I do not see or hear the same focus, the same concern, the same urgent attention to the challenge ahead that I have encountered elsewhere. The last presentation of Columbia High School’s strategic plan by Dr. Lilly, for example, dwelled heavily on HSPA results and never once mentioned the Common Core, or outlined what her administration planned to do to reorient teachers and curriculum to meet the standards.  We have very, very far to go.  Too often our school discussions seem trapped in old debates and heated emotions when the now issue, the current challenge, the mandate we have no choice but to face (both because it is a New Jersey requirement, and because our students need these skills) is the Common Core. 

I want to be sure that whoever runs, and whoever, you the voters, choose in this election will be clear sighted about what the CC requires, and focused on helping our schools do what is necessary.  We need to bear down and ask hard questions about the content of our curriculum: our reading lists – especially non-fiction, our assignments, and our teacher training for meeting CC requirements.  I understand that there is a difference between board oversight and an administration, which carries out day to day responsibilities. But it seems to me that at this critical juncture every board member and candidate must publically define their view of how the administration can best face this massive sea change, and what role they think the board should play. This election must be the voters’ best chance to see the road map each candidate has in mind.

I greatly value the contacts I have had with Dr. Osborne and others – including members of the current board who are running in this election. But I also believe that this election, coming just as we gear up for the first CC assessments this spring, is the time to bring this challenge to the forefront, and make it the center of our school policy debates.

As summer wanes and I look ahead to a busy fall when I must face my own professional responsibilities, I am exploring what is the best role I can play in this upcoming election, so our sights remain focused on the implementation of the Common Core.  The one thing I do know is that we cannot afford  to have this election turn into a personality contest, or a chance to fight old battles. It must be the moment we, together, as two communities, recognize that we must focus our energies on helping our students, our teachers, our schools meet the challenge of the Common Core.

I can’t be the focus, the road ahead for our schools must be. 

And so with great respect for everyone who encouraged me to run and facilitated my candidacy, I have decided the best and most useful role for me is to attend the meetings, debates, and discussions, ask questions, and to be a voice not for myself but for all of us, as we consider what is required to prepare our schools, and our children, for the challenge of the Common Core.

Marc Aronson