Yesterday the Fordham Institute, Ohio Grantmakers Forum, and Achieve hosted “Embracing the Common Core: Helping Students Thrive” in Columbus. It was the first event of its kind in Ohio to address head-on the implementation plans and challenges that accompany the state’s transition to the Common Core academic standards and aligned assessments.
Nearly 400 people gathered to discuss why the Common Core standards are necessary to improve educational outcomes in Ohio, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with the new standards. The opening keynote speaker was State Superintendent Stan Heffner, who stressed that Ohio’s current K-12 system isn’t working and is letting kids down and not preparing them for the future. He went on to emphasize that the Common Core gives us the opportunity to do better and we must capitalize on that. Cleveland Metropolitan Schools CEO Eric Gordon and Reynoldsburg City Schools Superintendent Steve Dackin shared how they have already begun to implement the Common Core standards in their districts. Mike Cohen, president of Achieve, spoke to the specifics of PARCC (the assessment consortia Ohio joined last fall) and warned that the implementation of the new standards in ELA and math will not be easy and that districts should start the implementation process now. State Board of Education President Debe Terhar; Deb Tully of the Ohio Federation of Teachers; Melissa Cardenas from the Ohio Board of Regents; the new director of the Governor’s Office of 21st Century Education Dick Ross also participated.
The event was chock full of great discussion and interaction not only among those in attendance but also those watching online and in the Twitter-sphere. Here are some of the top tweets related to the event:
- SchoolChoiceOH: Eric Gordon is breath of fresh air. Talking with districts across the country about how to approach common core. #ccohio
- OhioGadfly: Gordon: we know we have to get better- we have to get serious about changing this educational system #CCOhio
- Jen Smith Richards: Ohio Supt. Stan Heffner says schools could be using new Common Core standards in k-2 right now. Why wait? he asks. #ccohio
- ChristinaHank: Heffner: We're not going to keep repeating content yr after yr; we're going to build on knowledge #CCOhio #CommonCore
- OHEducation: Heffner: College ready- proficient enough in English and Math to take entry level college courses without remediation. #ccohio #ohioed
- OhioGadfly: Heffner: in 6th grade kids only have to get 35% of items correct to be considered to proficient- this is a problem #CCOhio
If you missed the event, or want to check it out again, you can watch the video here and access all the materials on our event page. Stay tuned for more coverage in the weeks and months ahead on implementing the Common Core in Ohio. And as always, for all things Common Core head over to our Common Core Watch blog.
