Are We Shifting?

We all know by know that the Common Core State Standards place new, steep demands on students. So steep, in fact, that parents whine about it for their children, and the same legislators and activists that once bemoaned the sorry state of US Education are harkening for the good old days when kids could get an A for effort.

To deeply understand increasingly complex texts, to synthesize and transfer that understanding, and to “ analyze, critique, communicate [and] present arguments with evidence” are literacy demands the Common Core places on students, according to Berger et al in Transformational Literacy.

Of course, almost any reasonable adult would admit that these are the kinds of things we want from our students - logical reasoning, using evidence to back up their thinking, the ability to read critically and write convincingly. What could be wrong with that?

Well, for many, this represents both a theoretical and practical shift in practice. What Mike Schmoker coined as “The Crayola Curriculum,” in his 2001 Education Week article by the same name is unfortunately not yet an anomaly for many students and classrooms despite his “enormous hope for dramatic, near-term improvements at every level of education.” Of course Schmoker’s optimism resides in the adage that “Acknowledging the problem is half the battle.” If students’ spending too much time on ancillary activities rather than the actual practice of reading and writing is the problem, then too many teachers are still stuck there.

Perhaps what Schmoker failed to recognize is the enormity of it - the other half of the battle. There are teachers everywhere! If the problem was as pervasive as he indicated in his article, then what solution could be as pervasive?

The Common Core, of course. Place higher demands on students and teachers will rise to the challenge.

Convincing all of these teachers, however, that their high-engagement, text- to- self activities are flawed is a theoretical battle in and of itself. Convincing hard- working diligent professionals that creating pictures representing the meaning of a short story or poem is wrong-headed, that assembling students into groups to create a collage of theme is ineffectual, that spending time on activities that don’t directly measure growth is wasted time, is a gigantic task.

Once that task is accomplished, however, then the “third half” of the battle begins: Teaching teachers how to make this shift, how to coach students to the higher demands, how to turn each moment into a productive moment of learning. And in truth, much of this will be in teaching English teachers to be reading teachers, as ironic as that sounds.

So where are we in this process?

In my most recent observations and conversations with teachers, some are earnestly in the midst of shifting. They are buying the vision laid out by the architects of the Common Core and such theorists as Schmoker, Berger, and Richard Allington - intensive focus on text as the centerpiece of a lesson, reading for 60 to 90 minutes per day, reading a high-volume of independent-level texts as well as struggling through teacher-directed close reads of complex materials.

Other teachers are asking questions: Where’s the fun in that? How do I engage students in this? Why should I believe them this time? They are venting frustrations: So much for the love of reading when all we do is focus on skills! My students no longer enjoy my class and neither do I! I want to transform lives, not just readers!

Their basic question is not where are we are on the shift, but is this a shift I want to make?

So, this is where we are. Working to convince some that these shifts are worth it while building capacity in those who are ready. Of course, test scores and data might compel some toward change, but a change of heart will have a deeper and longer lasting impact.

And as so often is the case with life, the skeptics are so critically important. Their questions will cause us to think deeper, to make sure that we are, in fact, on the right track. They will cause us to look not just at test results and growth data, but at the students behind the numbers. The reluctant among us are demanding proof of another sort - that this shift to a more rigorous, more academic curriculum can be made without sacrificing what we all came here for - the child.