So much has been written about Common Core Curriculum Standards and what their purpose and impact will be for students and teachers. Some critical ideas for understanding the purpose and impact are:
1. All but five states in our union have adopted these standards. This set of standards will serve to provide the students of this country with a rigorous, quality education from district to district and from state to state.
2. The standards themselves resulted from the ideas and work of educators, citizens, educational experts and others from across this country.
3. The standards are not a curriculum but, instead, a blueprint of skills and knowledge all students need in order to compete locally and globally.
4. Best teaching and learning practices will be taught, shared and implemented in classrooms across our nation as teachers strive to engage all students on a personal level.
5. Teachers will continue to design and implement lesson plans from their own district or state curriculum while directing instruction towards meeting the common academic performance goals.
6. Student success is expected and failure in not an option.
All students will benefit as the classroom shifts from teachers as giver of information to individual student performance at the center.
• Ahwatukee Foothills resident Donna Bates is a retired middle school teacher and co-author of two books on education.
