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Common Core standards are helping Ohio County students achieve higher scores on standardized tests, district officials said Thursday.
At a Parent Teacher Organization meeting Thursday evening, Wheeling Park High School principal Amy Minch outlined the tenants of the Common Core State Standards educational system.
In place since 2010 in Ohio County kindergarten classes and since implemented in other grade levels, the Common Core program is intended to eliminate discrepancies between state educational standards by creating a common basis for mathematics and English language arts curriculum.
The Common Core system was designed by education chiefs and governors of 48 states and is used in 43 states. Minch said the goal of the program is to ensure students are ready to face practical challenges both directly after high school and on a professional level.
According Minch’s presentation, Common Core stresses high levels of parent, teacher and student involvement with the learning process at all levels.
As such, it does not standardize questions or reading materials, but provides informational guidelines for teachers to interpret the best way to teach and accommodate student learning styles, while encouraging parental guidance at home.
Parents are encouraged to have a higher input on student learning to make education important outside of simply preparing for the next test.
Students in the Common Core program are expected to move toward a stronger writing style defined by supporting evidence and defensible views. Minch said a key part of the Common Core system is a strong emphasis on reading comprehension and firm understanding of facts, and that these form the basis of the English language arts system.
Hannah Merideth, a student at WPHS, said she finds herself enjoying the school’s curriculum.
“It really does help me on a daily basis,” Merideth said.
Minch said a Common Core nationwide test, the Smarter Balanced Assessment, will replace the WESTEST 2 next year.
Minch said the classroom standards have helped Wheeling Park students experience measurable growth on assessments such as the ACT and SAT.
“Our students are demonstrating academic growth in mathematics, English language arts, and all core areas,” she said.