Doing Common Core

I was fortunate enough to be invited to sit on my district Common Core Steering Committee. It's an interesting process to wrestle with the big ideas of what Common Core should look like, how we should get there, and what our benchmarks should be. One of the key messages has been that Common Core planning documents need to be flexible - as we learn more about what needs to be done and what implementation looks like in terms of assessment, the plan may need to be adjusted. Right now many planning documents are skeletons, with a lack of detail or specifics that actually allow decisions to be made or consistent implementation to happen.

For me, now working at a district rather than a county office, I am realizing how difficult it is to make decisions that "turn the ship" when a large district is involved. As a presenter and consultant, I suggested to districts that they convene a team, bring in stakeholders, identify priorities, etc., etc., etc. I acknowledged that it was going to be a multi-year process. But because I was outside the process looking in, I didn't have that gut-level FEELING of the push, pull, and frustrations that happen within the actual implementation. "Adapt to your reality" is a phrase I've used many times in terms of monitoring a plan, reflecting on what works, and making revisions. But reality is extremely hard to adapt to when money is scarce and time is even more so. Yes, I've said during presentation that time is the most difficult commodity to create, and offered a range of suggestions. But at the school site, between the constraints of the contract and the many demands we place on teachers, creating time is far more complicated than I ever internalized. Now, I need to provide CCSS implementation support for my staff in 40 minute chunks, delivered once a month. I need to provide support for my staff in single-page bulletins that are easily digestible and easily implemented. I need to bring parents up to speed in understandable 15-minute chunks, in English and in Spanish, embedded in ELAC, SSC and PTA meetings. The "how" of all that is incredibly difficult. And it requires a depth of knowledge and understanding that I am lucky to have, but many administrators do not. Sitting in presentations does not make for deep understanding.

More than ever, I think district leadership is key to building the scaffold for Common Core implementation, and site leadership is key to actual classroom implementation. The district needs to ensure equitable access to the resources (including time, money and materials) that is needed to implement. They must build the infrastructure, including a minimum amount of training, materials, and technology that all sites have in place. In terms of materials such as technology, hey must take the hard line that equitable is not equal, and that schools that already have the minimum may not get more paid from district funds. The district needs to coordinate professional development that includes cross-school collaboration and product development, so teachers leave the training with materials that are ready to use. At the site, administration needs to provide an ongoing focus on examining the implementation and refining practice. Administrators need to hold teachers accountable for moving forward with the standards, with individualized support plans and benchmarks if needed, providing ongoing opportunities for reflection, growth, and collaboration.

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