The NAEYC, remains a strong voice and guiding point for
early childhood professionals to turn to for research-based knowledge and
information. The NAEYC website has many topics that address current issues and trends
in education. The topic of “Common Core State Standards” stood out to me
this week on the website. The Common Core affects children in grades K-12 and
may begin to affect what is expected to be taught at the preschool level. The
Common Core is a set of national standards that has been accepted by most
states. The idea is to make the standards for English Language Arts and Math consistent
across the nation for each grade level and for completion of high school
(NAEYC, 2012). I teach at the high school level in Oregon, which has adopted
the standards beginning this school year, and the standards have been the topic
of many professional development meetings. It is a change that requires much
adjustment and worry for our students trying to pass a new standardized test
for graduation. Are the standards too high? Are all schools provided the same resources
and means to meet the standards?
The article, “The common core state standards: Caution and
opportunity for early childhood education,” focuses on the impact that the
Common Core may have on the early childhood field and discusses concerns of
early childhood professionals. “These [unintended] consequences include
concerns about the allocation of time and resources to support the content of
the Common Core relative to areas not included in these standards, and about
the means by which schools will assess children’s progress in meeting the
standards” (NAEYC, 2012 p. 4). Will the Common Core create a large push for
language arts and math to be the main focus in pre-K programs across the nation?
Are the standards developmentally appropriate? “Especially critical is
maintaining methods of instruction that include a range of approaches—including
the use of play as well as both small- and large-group instruction—that are
considered to be developmentally appropriate for young children” (NAEYC, 2012
p. 7)
Reference:
National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC). 2012. The Common Core State Standards: Caution and Opportunity for
Early Childhood Education. Washington, DC: National Association for the
Education of Young Children.
Our district started using the common core last year for grades K-12. It has been the topic of many conversations. Thank you for sharing NAEYC's view on this topic. I believe maintaining developmentally appropriate methods of instruction are extremely important for early childhood. This would be an issue that would definitely need to be discussed if the Common Core was to be used in preschool. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future.
ReplyDeleteCourtney
Mary, I think it is awesome that you have chosen to write about the common core standards. I generally work with special needs children but some of them are functioning high enough to get inclusion segments in regular education and the regular education teachers are worried about the same things. I think this topic does need attention because it raises mire concerns I think than positive thinking. I believe that Georgia has been using common core for a couple years now and some things are still hard to adapt to the standards. Great post let me know what other information you come across about this.
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