Common Core: Do What it Takes Before High Stakes

Act on Common Core: Do What it Takes Before High Stakes

We have the ability to transform the very DNA of teaching and learning, to move away from rote memorization and endless test taking, and toward problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork—things I know we have been advocating for years. It’s kind of amazing that we have to call on states and districts to implement the Common Core State Standards before making the new assessments count. But that’s what we’re doing.

Send a message to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and your state education commissioner: When states and districts get the alignment right—which will require moving from standards to curriculum to field testing to revising—success will follow. But, until then, a moratorium on the stakes is the only sensible course.

Through the linked Facebook AFT Page Enter your zip-code below to be matched with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and your state education commissioner. Feel free to add your own personal stories to the letter before sending.

In order to address your message to the appropriate recipient, we need to identify where you are.

Please look up and use your full nine-digit zip for the best results, or send your mail directly.

A sample letter is offered as a suggestion. Copy it or make it your own. Send the letter penned to Secretary Arne Duncan. Department of Education. Email: TeachTalk@ed.gov and State Education Commissioners. Possibly begin with Florida’s Tony Bennett, Email: commissioner@fldoe.org

Common Core: Do What it Takes Before High Stakes

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, reflect the knowledge and skills all our children and young people need to prosper as individuals, to participate in our democracy and to propel our economy forward. I am excited about these standards and the opportunity they will provide my students. But I am very concerned that the CCSS are being imposed on teachers without the resources, time and training students and teachers need to succeed. And I am also troubled that, once again, the focus will be on testing instead of teaching.

My request is simple: First focus on real implementation of the CCSS, and then make the assessments count. Mr. Secretary, announce your support today for a moratorium on the stakes associated with Common Core assessments—stakes that will cause needless harm to students, teachers and schools and will undermine support for a powerful movement for educational improvement.

Relieve states and districts of any requirements that use Common Core assessments for high-stakes purposes (student promotion, teacher evaluation, school closing or restructuring) during this challenging and important transition. Use the power of your office to support high-quality state- and district-level implementation plans that include: opportunity for teachers to unpack and understand the standards; access to curriculum and related instructional resources; time and support to adapt their teaching; and a period of field testing and feedback on putting the standards and related assessments into practice. These implementation plans must include budgets, ongoing communication to stakeholders and, most important, the voice of teachers.

In other words, when it comes to Common Core, help us do what it takes before high stakes.

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