Last month, Indiana became the first state in the nation to formally repeal the controversial Common Core education standards that were adopted in 2010. Monday, the Indiana Education Roundtable will vote on a new set of standards for the state’s public schools.
Teresa Meredith, president of the Indiana State Teacher’s Association says the trouble with Common Core started before the standards were officially adopted. She says some districts had the resources to properly train and prepare teachers to deal with Common Core. But others, she says, chose not to devote their limited resources to training.
Meredith says the new standards won’t be all that different from Common Core.
“There are some things that, no matter what you call the standards, you must teach in order for students to really be ready for whatever is coming at them down the road,” said Meredith. “For example, some very basic math and language arts skills: you can’t eliminate those just because there’s a ‘Common Core’ label on them or just because they’re from an old set of standards. They’re very important.”
Meredith says she’s reviewed the proposed standards and says she’s impressed. If the roundtable approves the standards Monday, they’ll go to the Indiana board of Education in one week for final approval.
Meredith says she and her fellow teachers are just looking for clarity.
“At this point, they’re just anxiously waiting – I think all educators are – they’re wanting to know: ‘What am I supposed to be doing in preparation for the fall?’ ‘What standards am I supposed to be using?’ and ‘I just need to know, so I know how to spend my summer with my professional development in preparation for methods for next year,'” she said.