Berkley School District, Others Implementing Common Core Initiative

In preparation for under the Common Core initiative that the Michigan Department of Education adopted in 2010, teachers are among those working to modify lesson plans so they are in step with new academic standards.

For instance, more emphasis will be placed on nonfiction reading and writing, BSD Director of Curriculum, Technology, Assessment & Grants Mary Beth Fitzpatrick wrote in an e-mail to Berkley Patch.

These changes and more are slowly being rolled out in school districts around Michigan, which also are working to bring parents up to speed.

"We have a district parent who took training by the national (Parent Teacher Association) involving CC information for parents," Fitzpatrick wrote. "She and I are working together to develop a plan of disseminating information to parents and the community sometime in January/February."

Other districts have taken similar steps.

Saline Area Schools has hosted . And in , the PTA has taken up the charge of helping parents understand expectations. At the start of this school year, distributed a booklet to parents explaining the changes.

But some say there is little urgency since students actually won't be tested on the changes for a few years.

"When we get more specifics, we'll be communicating the changes and expectations to the parents in the district," said Heidi Kast, assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction and assessment for Lake Orion Community Schools.

Changes under way

Students will be tested on the new standards in 2014-2015, though in most cases, the transition should take place in 2011-12, with full implementation the following year, according to an FAQ from the MDE (see attached PDF).

The goal of Common Core is to bring uniform curriculum to K-12 classrooms throughout the United States in an attempt to align the country's educational expectations. That means students in the Berkley School District will be expected to know the exact same information as students in Queens, NY, where teachers already have implemented Common Core.

Educators also expect the changes will ensure students are better prepared for college and employment.

"The CC allows teachers to dig deeper into key concepts," BSD's Fitzpatrick wrote. "It will help us create a more rigorous reading and writing curriculum, which will better prepare students for higher education or the world of work."

Fitzpatrick added that she does not expect implementation of the Common Core initiative to impact staffing or course offerings.

The Berkley School District already has begun training its teachers and administrators on how to implement the Common Core initiative.

"We have held sessions with our principals, groups of teachers by grade and by subject, and special education teachers at various staff meetings and professional development days," Fitzpatrick wrote. "We have K-12 staff working on CC lesson plans in math and reading, with school district representatives from across the county via Oakland Schools."

The Oakland Schools group is taking on the task as a team.

Twenty-four faculty members at Birmingham Public Schools, for example, work diligently each month to review and change district curriculum. They are part of a pilot program and are working alongside representatives from Oakland County's 28 school districts in preparation for the Common Core.

"Right now, all the districts in Oakland County are working together ... to develop units of study," Catherine Cost, assistant superintendent of instructional services at Farmington Public Schools said. "Our teachers will bring back information to share with others in the district."

This year, teachers focused on number skills by developing units that enhance students' knowledge of place value, transformations (how to manipulate the shape of a line) and other areas that were targeted by Oakland's math curriculum team.

RJ Webber, assistant superintendent at Novi Community Schools, said curriculum collaboration is one of the benefits of moving to the Common Core.

"It really expands the amount of collaboration that can occur not only across a district but across the country about what lessons are really working and what things can get there," he said.

"The concern that I would have is the preparation, the testing and the assessment. We're in a very high-stake testing situation right now in our country, and my concern is are these results for the Common Core and their first few iterations going to have high stakes impact and implications? If I was a teacher right now I would be concerned about that."

Fitzpatrick echoed those sentiments.

"The concern right now for us is how the new Smarter Balanced Assessment will look, how it will be facilitated, and how student progress will be measured given the new CC via an online assessment tool coming in 2014-15," she wrote.

Common Core does have its critics.

A writer at the Goldwater Institute, a public policy agency, said the initiative likely won't prepare students to compete in a global economy and hasn't proven that it will help prepare students for selective colleges. And a writer at Politco agrees there is no evidence that Common Core will achieve its goals of boosting national competitveness.

What will it cost?

Many local officials say they don’t anticipate that extra dollars will be needed to assist with the transition, although some have pointed to the need for technology upgrades.

"Because we are making the shift over time, I don't have an estimated budget for making the changes," Fitzpatrick wrote. "Our curriculum materials in math and reading are able to be adapted or will be improved via natural updates.

"The money spent on this will most likely be allocated to staff development," she wrote.

David Maile, director of instruction for Huron Valley Schools in White Lake said it could take hundreds of thousands of dollars to faithfully implement Common Core as it’s intended.

“If the district moves to computer-based assessment, a lot of technology 
improvements will be needed for the classrooms,” he said. “This type of change could be very, very expensive, and there’s no answer on where the money would come from to support it.”

Regardless of the cost, people have the right idea with Common Core, Maile said.

Getting parents and students on board

Stephen Palmer, assistant superintendent for instruction at Birmingham Public Schools, said he believes as the state prepares for the common core changes, there is going to be a “wake up” call for parents and students.

“It’s going to create a lot of angst and anxiety among a lot of people,” Palmer said. “More rigorous standards for underperforming schools will be tough to handle, but it’s an opportunity to change practices and focus on a few skills more deeply. I think for some, it will affect districts dramatically and the state of public education in Michigan will be questioned once again.”

Patch.com Regional Editor Teresa Mask and Berkley Patch Editor Leslie Ellis contributed to this report.