Common Core Standards are here and you need to know what they are!

There is a revolution in education and students, parents and teachers need to get with it! Have you heard of the Common Core Standards? The Common Core Standards set up a single set of clear educational standards for English language arts and mathematics for each grade level. Teachers are getting ready to implement these standards in the classroom in the coming years. As a parent and a student you need to know what they are and how they affect you. The most exciting piece of this is that these new standards are designed to make sure that students graduating from high school are prepared for college, work and success in the global economy. More on this in the NCLR report “Raising the Bar: Implementing Common Core State Standards for Latino Success. The mission of this movement involves having clear, understandable and consistent Standards students need to master in each grade so that teachers and parents know what they need to help them. As a student or as a parent you need to take a look at the expectations for the coming year. Click here for the official Common Core standards Initiative, an awesome website with all the information you need to know.

Yesterday I attended a really interesting lecture from the Latino Policy Forum called “Supporting the Success of Latino Students: the New Standards” by Dr. Aida Walqui. One of her main points is parents and students need to understand the economic need to attend college. Without at least some college, students will not be able to compete in the global economy. At the meeting the Latino Policy Forum released a new report: Shaping Our Future, Building a collective Latino K-12 Education Agenda. It is the roadmap and the research that we need to move ahead.

We all need to make education an obsession for our Latino community.

Advise of the week:

• Make a copy of the Common Core Standards for each grade you are going to study.

• Parents, students and teachers together have a step by step plan to make your goals

• Knowing what teachers expect to cover in the coming years will give you the guidelines to help your student or yourself.

• Knowing the standards will help you when you talk to a teacher about how you are progressing.

• The new standards are geared to make sure that you are prepared for your dream of college and to be successful not only locally but globally.

The more you know, the better you are so take a look at the Common Core Standards.