Indiana Releases Draft of New Academic Standards to Replace Common Core

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The Indiana Department of Education has released a draft version of new content standards for English/language arts and math that would replace the Common Core State Standards that were adopted by the state in 2010. The drafting of the new standards was required under a law approved last year.  

According to what the state board has said, the new Indiana College and Career Ready Standards "represent Indiana sovereignty, demonstrate high levels of quality, and are aligned with nationally and internationally benchmarked definitions of college- and career-readiness and postsecondary expectations."

The state's Academic Standards Evaluation Panels, which oversaw the creation of the draft content standards following an earlier review of standards in the fall, had 27 members, including English and math teachers, as well as English and math professors and professors at schools of education in the state. These members compared the current common core standards to prior Indiana standards and held them up against aforementioned criteria for state standards, then "reconciled" them into a final set of draft standards.

It's still unclear how much and exactly where the draft standards deviate from the common core—at some level, the difference between the two sets of standards may become very minute or non-existent. And whatever set of standards the state board ultimately adopts, it will still have to select a state assessment aligned to their standards. 

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, the U.S. Department of Education requires states to have assessments that align to their standards. Even states with NCLB waivers still have to meet this requirement, but the federal Education Department's peer review guidance process to aid that alignment was recently suspended. That review by outside experts doesn't look at the assessments themselves, but rather at states' plans for reviewing and implementing high-quality assessments as they relate to their standards. It's unclear how much in-depth review the department is actually doing in terms of this alignment work without that peer-review process. 

Indiana distanced itself last year from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, one of two federally funded consortia developing common-core aligned tests. Although it's still technically a member of that consortium, it seems unlikely that Indiana will ultimately use a PARCC test. (It's easy to imagine common-core foes in the state being very unhappy if the state drops the common core but uses a common-core aligned test.) It remains to be seen if Indiana can find an existing assessment that's aligned to its new standards in the eyes of the peer-review process. If the draft standards are ultimately adopted, it might take some time before the state can field-test and then administer a new assessment that does. 

Common core supporters in the state have expressed the hope that the new Indiana standards will either match what common core offers or improve on it, while foes of the common core say the new standards shouldn't simply be a rebranded version of the common core.

In the background, there is a bill this year from GOP Sen. Scott Schneider that would nullify the state's 2010 adoption of the common core. The new standards would take their place. 

The standards will be up for review for several weeks, including at three meetings where the public can comment later this month. Next, the Indiana Education Roundtable—which is led by Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, and which includes business leaders and members of the education community—will vote on the draft standards March 31. Finally, the state school board will vote on the new standards April 9.

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Draft Indiana Standards Get Chilly Response at Public Hearing

Indianapolis

Draft standards aimed at replacing the Common Core State Standards in Indiana drew a barrage of skeptical and disappointed reactions from many who turned out here Tuesday for the second of three four-hour hearings on the controversial topic this week.

Some of those testifying said they were dismayed that the draft Indiana academic standards seemed very similar to, or no different from, the common core. Roughly 30 to 40 people testified over the course of the hearing.

Others said the new standards, which were created by a state panel of educators by merging the common core with portions of Indiana standards adopted in 2009, would only confuse students and teachers and create more instability in classrooms. And many simply reiterated their opposition to the common core itself.

Over the last several months, the state has been reconsidering its involvement in the common core and developing new standards with the help of state education professors and K-12 teachers. The resulting draft Indiana standards were released last week.

Danielle Shockey, a deputy superintendent in the Indiana education department, previously had said parents likely won't notice a difference between common core and the new standards if they're adopted, and that the skills teachers will focus on with students won't differ greatly.

But Diane Scott, the curriculum director of the Lebanon Community School Corporation, said that despite being the "cheerleader" for teachers in her district, she was worried yet another change in standards would make them lose heart.

"These shifts are very difficult for the people in the field trying to do the work," Scott told Indiana State Board of Education members and other education officials at the public hearing.

Some educators expressed concern that the draft standards were not clear in particular subject areas, and that the order in which the draft standards should be taught was also uncertain.

And Amy Nichols, who said she was a math specialist, argued that the approach of merging standards has produced a "confusing mess" for teachers.

Nichols criticized the draft standards for not separating certain mathematical topics and for simply replicating common core. Half of the common core standards for algebra, for example, had carried over to the 139 draft standards for algebra, she said.

"Why are we so rushed, especially when we already drafted standards in 2009 that were thoroughly vetted?" she asked.

A few individuals praised the way in which the standards were drafted, if not the specific standards themselves. Although she said the draft standards should be better organized for teachers, Kate Johnson of the Stand for Children advocacy group said, "The process definitely included input from educators."

In perhaps the loudest moment of the hearing, several people jeered in opposition when Caitlin Hannon, of Teach Plus in Indianapolis, a group that advocates for effective and experienced teachers to be placed in urban schools, urged state officials to listen to teachers, and not prioritize testimony from parents over educators when it comes to standards.

Existing critics of the common core in Indiana showed that they were largely unsatisfied by the new standards. Heather Crossin, a leader of the Hoosiers Against Common Core group, said that they were simply a dressed-up and overweight version of the common core and even more unclear.

"It is clear that they represent the return to a mile-wide, inch-deep" method of learning, Crossin said at the meeting.

A few of those testifying urged the state board of education not to knuckle under to what they see as the federal government's influence and money.

Randy Brown, a common-core opponent, said he resented the loss of the 2009 Indiana standards, which he argued had been the right course for the state all along.

"Common core came along from the federal government and kind of knocked that out of the water," he said.

(The U.S. Department of Education gave incentives for states through Race to the Top grants to adopt "college- and career-ready" standards like the common core, and it's paying for common-core aligned assessments, but it did not pay for the common core's development.)

Another political critique, albeit a very different one, came from Bonnie Fisher, representing a group called Corporate Education Reforms Watch. She said the draft standards were really no different from the common core, and that both simply prepared students to be drones in a workforce dominated by capitalism.

If the state school board adopts the draft Indiana standards, Fisher said, "You should rename yourselves Lords of Basic Worker Training. For this is not education."

The draft content standards under discussion have not stopped lawmakers from taking further action to distance the state from the common core. After passing the state Senate, legislation that would void the state's 2010 adoption of the common core was approved by the House education committee earlier this month. (It would not explicitly prohibit the Indiana State Board of Education, which has final say over content standards, from re-adopting the common core, although that option now appears both impractical and politically unpalatable.)

That 2014 legislation was authored by GOP Sen. Scott Schneider, who first introduced anti-common-core legislation last year. The push didn't trigger the state to dump the common core, but it eventually led to a state law mandating a review of the common core and the official consideration of new standards. That review and evaluation of standards, in turn, led to the state's consideration of these new standards.

The Indiana Education Roundtable, which is led by Republican Gov. Mike Pence and Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, are to vote on the draft standards in March. Finally, the Indiana State Board of Education is to take a vote on the draft standards April 9.

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A Mix of the Common Core and Prior Standards in Indiana Classrooms

A Mix of the Common Core and Prior Standards in Indiana Classrooms - State EdWatch - Education Week _hbEvent = function(param){}; function _hbSend(){} function _hbLink(p1, p2){} function _hbPageView(p1, p2){} Education WeekTeacherDigital DirectionsIndustry & InnovationTopSchoolJobsShop Annual ReportsBooksBack IssuesEdweek SpotlightsSubscriptionsSite LicensesReprintsAdvertise Recruitment AdvertisingDisplay AdvertisingWhite PapersProfessional Development DirectoryAdvanced Search March 4, 2014 Login | Register | Subscribe
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Andrew Ujifusa

Andrew Ujifusa covers state education policy for Education Week, from new legislation and trends to eye-catching political battles. He previously worked at newspapers in Maryland and Mississippi, and taught high school English in Japan. 3781137811 « Draft Indiana Standards Get Chilly Response at Public Hearing |Main| Gov. Christie Taps David Hespe as New Jersey Education Commissioner »

A Mix of the Common Core and Prior Standards in Indiana ClassroomsBy Andrew Ujifusa on February 26, 2014 2:48 PM Tweet

Indianapolis

Over the next several weeks, Indiana education officials will be considering new, draft standards of their own to replace the Common Core State Standards. These draft standards in English/language arts and math represent an amalgam of the common core and Indiana's previous content standards. They're not necessarily a radical departure from the common core, a prospect that has upset some K-12 activists opposed to the common standards.

But what if Indiana teachers are already using both the common core and the state's previous standards in their classrooms? What does that look like?

On a visit to Crooked Creek Elementary School in Indianapolis, where state Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz used to be a media specialist, I went to the classroom of 5th grade teacher Flora Gitsis. She was instructing her class on writing an essay about their experiences with empathy, joined by student-teacher John Blum.

On a projector screen at the front of the room, Blum displayed a set of the 2006 Indiana State Standards to instruct students about the proper structure of an essay. Then the screen changed to show essay-writing for 5th graders as it's addressed in the common core.

What's the main difference between the Indiana standard and the common core on this topic? The latter puts an emphasis on the names of the concepts that are the foundation of the students' essay, like the thesis, a conclusion, and supporting evidence. Those terms are used and explained when the common-core standard is shown on the projector screen.

Gitsis told me the common core allows her to explore the topics of her lessons in more depth, building on what she called the more "cut-and-dried" Indiana standards used before common core.

Explaining to students that what they write about can be from their own lives, people they know, or make-believe, Gitsis told them, "You have a scope of ideas."

As Crooked Creek Principal Kimberly Piper explains, one of the biggest effects of the common core has been to increase students' exposure to and understanding of this academic vocabulary. "I guarantee you that before common core, 'thesis' wouldn't have been a part of that lesson," Piper said.

The common core is now fully implemented in kindergarten and 1st grade at Crooked Creek, while teachers are transitioning from the state's prior standards to the common core in grades 2-5. (The state's so-called common-core "pause" legislation, passed last year, has not affected this transition.)

Piper said it has been difficult to be "in flux" between standards, and that, "Essentially, all of our teachers have been doing both. They've been doing a merge."

At the same time, though, teachers at the school gave me the impression that their classroom work hasn't been dramatically affected by the transition and the generally uncertain status of the common core in Indiana. They told me that the key skills they must teach have remained constant over the last few years, regardless of the standards they're given.

"We just want something that is clean and clear and concise," said Susan Cosand, a math specialist at Crooked Creek.

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Indiana House Repeals Common-Core Adoption; Bill Moves Closer to Gov.'s Desk

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The Indiana House of Representatives voted on Feb. 28 to repeal its 2010 adoption of the Common Core State Standards, following the state Senate's approval of the bill.

The House's 67-26 vote to approve Senate Bill 91 means that the legislation now heads to a conference committee, writes Scott Elliott of Chalkbeat Indiana. If approved by that committee, the bill goes to Gov. Mike Pence (R), who seems likely to sign in, given his previous statement that he wanted Indiana's standards to be written "by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers."

The Senate bill was authored by GOP Sen. Scott Schneider, who tried to repeal the common core in Indiana last year. While he failed in that effort, he did ultimately push the state to conduct a formal review of the standards and to draft a new set of standards. The state introduced a preliminary version of these new standards earlier this month, and held three public hearings this week to gather input on them, which I wrote about from Indianapolis on Feb. 25. 

So if Pence signs Senate Bill 91, does that mean common core will completely evaporate from the Hoosier State? No. That's because those draft standards I just mentioned include elements of the common core, along with previous standards in math and English/language arts that the state has adopted. In fact, as I wrote, these preliminary standards (developed by K-12 teachers and higher education faculty in the state) drew a hostile reception from from several common-core opponents at the hearing in Indianapolis. These critics said that the standards were much too similar to the common core to be considered Indiana's own standards.

In fact, some supporters of the common core in Indiana aren't terribly upset about the Senate bill, because they think the common core will ultimately continue in the state in some form. 

Various Indiana K-12 officials have told me that they're very pleased with the process through which the new standards have been crafted. So it may be difficult for common-core opponents to successfully demand the kinds of revisions that largely or entirely eliminate those common-core elements. 

These draft standards will undergo further revisions based on public comments at the hearings and those gathered online. The state board of education is slated to vote on the draft standards April 9, following a recommendation by the Indiana Education Roundtable, which is chaired by Pence and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz. Stay tuned.

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