Teachers and students at Fork Shoals School are excited about the implementation of Common Core State Standards for our students. South Carolina chose to join other states in developing these standards for English language arts and mathematics. Common Core State Standards are part of the goals and expectations our state has adopted for all other subject areas, like science, social studies, and fine arts.
Why is it important to have Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics?
Common Core State Standards are benchmarked to international standards to guarantee South Carolina prepares our students to learn and achieve in and outside of the classroom. Our students will have to compete in a global marketplace against students from China, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. With Common Core State Standards, we can prepare them to thrive.
Most of the top jobs in America today did not even exist a decade ago. These new standards will help maintain America's competitive edge and ensure all our students are prepared with the skills and knowledge to compete with their peers at home and abroad.
Parental Action: Learn why Common Core State Standards are so important by watching this short video! http://vimeo.com/51933492
Common Core is most about applying the knowledge that students learn and not memorizing information. Students are preparing for a new assessment, Smarter Balanced, that, at this time, will be the assessment for Common Core beginning the 2014-2015 school year.
Some sample ELA questions can be found at this website: http://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/itempreview/sbac/ELA.htm.
Some sample Math questions can be found at this website: http://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/itempreview/sbac/index.htm.
We are preparing to host a parent workshop to give you an opportunity to get more information regarding Common Core and Smarter Balanced. More information will be forthcoming in the next month or two.
Parental Action: Here are a few tips that will help you support your child: http://www.scholastic.com/commoncore/common-core-for-parents.htm.