The statewide average on these tests has barely changed since it was first administered in 2015.Ĭohen said not all schools used quality teaching materials aligned with the new standards, something he says is key to the success of Common Core. Last year, Illinois switched to another Common Core-aligned test called the IAR, or Illinois Assessment of Readiness. The test was expensive, and students performed worse on it than the state's previous standardized test. The one used in Illinois and other states is PARCC, or Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. " often got conflated with other policy tools, like testing or accountability indicators or teacher evaluation, which made them much more controversial," said Michael Cohen, a supporter of Common Core and president of the national education nonprofit Achieve, which aims to raise academic standards.Ĭommon Core came with two new tests. They said the standards were overly challenging and questioned whether they encouraged an effective way of learning. The goal was to increase difficulty across the board and aim for more uniformity across the country.īut soon after, Common Core faced some severe criticism from parents and teachers. The goal is to dig deep into topics rather than scratch the surface on a broad range of content.Īt the time, each state had their own set of learning standards, and they ranged in quality. In 2009, Common Core learning standards were pushed by a group of governors and education experts as a way to move away from rote memorization and toward the higher order thinking skills they said students needed for college and careers and to compete globally.Ĭommon Core is not a curriculum, rather it's a set of detailed expectations for what content and skills students should master at each grade level. The new standards do not appear to have helped reduce the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged schools and students in Illinois.Ī look at two schools - one in Chicago and one in the suburbs - helps show how Common Core has played out here. But many districts that have majority low-income students, and that have typically performed below the state average, continue to be low-performing. Only about one third of Illinois students are hitting the new high bar on state exams that gauge how well students are mastering the Common Core learning standards.Īnd school districts that are well-resourced - and that have typically been high-achieving - continue to score well under the Common Core exams. Today, Common Core is well established across classrooms in Illinois - and many teachers say it has indeed transformed the way they teach and given students the critical thinking skills they need for the modern world.īut using standardized test scores as an indication, Common Core has fallen short of its original promise in Illinois. The goal was to raise the bar and level the playing field for schools across the country. This new model, called Common Core, was meant to transform how students are taught and what they learn. Ten years ago, states across the country began to embrace a new set of tougher learning standards in public schools. Teachers there say Common Core is now well-established in their classrooms. Recently, fifth-grade students worked on decimals at Belmont-Cragin Elementary on the Northwest Side. The Common Core learning standards were introduced in Chicago starting in 2011, and teachers say implementation was uneven.
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