Benefits of Common Core Standards
In 2009, Americans began to take steps to improve the quality of education in public schools. They introduced a new program called common core standards to enable students favorably to compete in the global market and prepare for workforce training. The unique academic style can be defined as academic benchmarks that primarily determine how much knowledge and skills students have gained throughout their careers. They are not considered a curriculum but rather the skills and knowledge that k_12 students are expected to acquire. The purpose of this article is to examine the advantages of these standards. The standards make it possible for international benchmarking. It also lowers the cost of test development in the states. Furthermore, through the standards, state performance can be compared accurately. Besides, it gives students stability and promotes teachers’ collaboration.
Common core standards make it possible for States to collate systemized test with ease. Before this program, each state had its unique education systems with a distinct set of standards and assessments; this made it impossible to compare the states’ performances. With common core standards, this problem is solved as students from all the states take the same assessment test. Hence, this will increase competition among states, thus yielding even better results.
The standards enhance teachers’ collaboration and professional development. It gives teachers the opportunity to work with their colleagues from other states. Before the standards, they were working on their own due to different curriculum systems. The same curriculum allows teachers from different states to share their ideas and practices. Moreover, the standards provide an opportunity for meaningful professional development as it brings the education community to one page. Teachers who combine their efforts were well prepared to help their students and meet the required standards. Therefore, common standards give networked-teachers the freedom to establish and design learning materials that will make their students achieve their goals.
Common core standards reduce the overall cost of test development. It reduces the cost incurred by the states for the development of the test, registering source and reports as these states will no longer have to pay their different tests. It makes it possible for the states that share needs to split costs, hence saving money.
Common core standards also boost rigorousness in classrooms. They prepare students to join college. There is probably the core reason for the adaptation of the common core standards; it provides students with a conducive environment for growth. Besides, it sets rigorous benchmarks; by increasing students’ expectations as they are provided with reading materials and necessary support from their teachers.
Common core standards will highly improve students’ thinking skills. It will test on various skills within each question; this will improve students’ problem-solving skills with time. Critical thinking is applied everywhere; in the classroom and our daily lives, which is the reason the standards emphasize students to be highly tested on their analytical skills. Students are expected to base their opinions on the information they gather instead of memorizing facts and data. By applying concepts learned in class and real-life situations, students can develop critical thinking. It emphasizes on the use of questions that will highly develop students’ way of thinking. Teachers are always expected to indulge their students with questions.
With common core standards, states will know share same set standards. These can highly benefit those students with high mobility. When students move from one state to another, the standards allow them to pick up from where they left thus, providing all students with equal opportunities to learn the same curriculum no matter which school they transfer to, for instance, a student from California state can quickly move to a school in New York state.
. Moreover, it will not limit students with less achievement; rather, it will provide equal exposure to learning resources and experience through teacher preparation and instructions.
Common core standards will also improve the educational ranking of the United States in the global scene. The new system is benchmarked by international standards, thence, making it possible to compare the United States with other developed countries with the same education structure. This will highly benefit the United States for the fact that the nation has been dropping significantly in education ranking power over the past few years.
In conclusion, the common core standards are based on extensive research and evidence. They are consistent and easy to understand. They also boost career and college expectations of students by providing them with the necessary learning materials and knowledge. The Standards also introduces new ways of assessing the students that enhance their thinking skills to solves real-life problems. Thus, common core standards promote overall development in the global economy, and the fact that many performing nations are using it supports the idea.