You may have heard the term “Common Core” in conversations
with faculty and me this
summer or through your own research. And
you might be asking yourself, what exactly is the “Common Core”? Why is it important to Trident Academy’s
students? And how will it impact teaching and learning?
Put simply, the Common Core is a nationally recognized set
of standards for skills that each student should master in each grade level (I
explain more below). Many top independent schools and South Carolina public schools, have already adopted the Common Core
standards. Ensuring our standards are aligned with the Common Core will mean a
couple very important things for our students. First, it means our students are
prepared for a seamless transition to college or any other school using the
Common Core. Second, using the Common Core means our students will learn the
same skills as their peers at other schools, but we will still be able to use
the multisensory and learning differentiated lessons that are the hallmark of
Trident Academy.
The Common Core is the result of a state–led initiative,
championed by the National Governors Association. Recognizing student mobility
from state to state at all education levels, the creators of the Common Core
sought to develop a set of grade and subject level standards that would ensure
college and career readiness for all students, regardless of where their education
took place. Released in the summer 2011, the Common Core has been recognized
and endorsed by every leading education association including the National Education
Association (NEA), College Board, ACT, and the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (NCTM). The Core document is
organized into four categories; goals (standards), methods, materials, and assessment.
While our students excite us with their success in the
classroom every day, their ability to be successful outside of Trident Academy
is the true mark of a job well done. Some of our students look to leave us in
their middle or high school years, while others decide that college is a more
appropriate jumping off point. Whatever the goal, we are all are partners in
getting there. Ensuring that our curriculum is in alignment with any school our
students might choose is the first step in preparing our students for their
transition. We are reviewing the standards for all grade levels and subjects,
and are completely confident that Trident Academy students will move seamlessly
into other programs that have adopted the Common Core standards (South Carolina’s
public school have adopted the standards and many local private schools are
undergoing a review similar to ours).
At the outset, some private schools were understandably
skeptical of this undertaking, but pleasantly impressed with the thoroughness
and rigor of the standards. Those of us in educational leadership immediately
recognized the competitive advantage that these standards held for supporting
the value of private education. With the adoption of somewhat universal
standards for curriculum (I say somewhat because no one endorses a “lock-step”
agreement with the standards), the focus of any school can now be directed to delivery
and assessment. And that’s where Trident has a great story to tell.
Once the standards are defined, meeting the goals for every
child stems from the way we deliver those lessons in the classroom. Multi-sensory and learning differentiated
lessons are the hallmark of a Trident Academy education. Our teachers are
highly trained to recognize a student’s learning difference and implement a
variety of strategies to help them learn. Once learned, our students take these
tools with them for life.
With the burden of defining curriculum lifted, teachers can
focus on understanding emerging methodologies for teaching, take advantage of research
into the physiology of learning, and work collaboratively to sync lessons
across the curriculum. With the curriculum standards document at hand, it is
easy to track where each student is, and where the areas of challenge might
lie. Finally, we now have a framework
for concisely and consistently communicating this information to parents,
enabling all of us to work as partners in our student’s educational journey.
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