A Tsunami of Reform! The Impact of Common Core on the Middle School Program of Study

This past Thursday evening, I had the opportunity to help make the case for a change to the current Howard County Middle School Program of Study. This change is needed in large part to prepare for the new Common Core curricular demands. 

Along with several central office administrators and school principals, we shared the need for changes to be made to the current Middle School Program of Study. We are advocating for the following:

• Infuse literacy instruction into all courses as appropriate.
• Require reading instruction only for students who need it. 
• Provide systemic interventions/seminars for below level students.
• Provide opportunities for students to participate in Inquiry and Innovation Modules which promote both STEM and disciplinary literacy.
• Offer world languages to 6th graders.
• Offer seven  50-minute instructional periods.
• Increase instructional time for math, English, science, and social studies
• Provide physical education all year.

Not surprisingly, there are critics to this plan. Most of the criticism is around the curricular decision to remove the long-standing requirement that all students take a stand-alone reading class each year. In fact, based on Maryland School Assessment data, Howard County's reading program has been a huge success in large part to the dedication and commitment of the reading staff at each school and central office personnel! So, the obvious question is, "Why change something that has been so successful?" Simply stated, when Maryland agreed to adopt the new Common Core and accept Race to the Top federal grant monies, they put in motion the "Third Wave of Maryland School Reform." Or what I like to say, 

 Maryland's Tsunami of school reform!

The new curricular demands of the Common Core will expect proficient and advanced readers to come to middle school equipped with the fundamental reading skills and the ability to begin the process of "reading to learn" through the vehicle of disciplinary literacy. This process is best accomplished by a content specialist using authentic content and not in a class where reading skills are taught in isolation. However, it is recognized that students who are below grade level or have significant reading weaknesses will continue to receive customized reading support through their participation in a daily reading intervention class.

Another concern that critics have raised about this proposal is whether all teachers should have a Program Implementation Period in addition to their 50 minute personal planning period. Currently, all middle school staff have a 50 minute personal planning period and a 50 minute administrative duty period (in the new proposal this would be called a Program Implementation Period). During the Program Implementation Period, teachers will continue to be assigned to do instructional collaboration, analysis of data, development of assessments, enhancement of parent communication, or administrative tasks such as lunch duty. Under the new proposal, Related Arts teachers (Art, Music, PE, Health Education, Family and Consumer Science and Technology Education) would not have a Program Implementation Period and instead teach their specialty area six out of the seven periods daily. As a trade off, Related Arts teachers would not be required to do the duties that are required for those teachers who have a PIP. While I truly understand how this may seem to be unfair at first glance, there are two considerations that made up this decision. First, the plan was supposed to be cost neutral due to current budgetary realities. Second, we believe that Related Arts teachers are the best people to teach their content to students. In order for students to be exposed to the content specialists' expertise in the arts or technical subjects, these teachers would be needed to teach the same load that they currently have.  

While these concerns are legitimate, as principals and curriculum specialists we have to prepare to move our students up the hill of higher expectations and achievement in order to be prepared for the Common Core tsunami that is imminent. It is irresponsible for us not to act now when we know a major wave of change is approaching. It is critical that we  prepare our teachers, students and communities for this new reality. We must align with the new expectations and evaluation tools that will be used for both staff and students. 

Consider this - Over the next two years, Maryland teachers and principals will be evaluated using a new evaluation system. Approximately 50% of that evaluation will be based on how well students perform on annual Core Curriculum tests. Further, a new curriculum will need to be learned and implemented. Can we afford to wait and do all of these changes in the same year? I don't think it is responsible to think we can.

I look forward to seeing what our Board of Education decides to do on January 26th when they are scheduled to vote. I believe they are still taking public comment at boe@hcpss.org. This is not an easy decision to make. However, it will be one of the most important decisions this Board makes about middle level education here in Howard County. This vote will set the direction middle schools will take over the next decade. This past Thursday evening, I truly appreciated and was impressed by each Board Member's questions and sincere interest in learning about the complexities of this issue. I am confident that they will come to the right decision for our students and staff.

To see the work session, click here  http://hcpsstv.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=6 

What do you think?