Michael Maher presented information on the Common Core standards to parents. He discussed that the Common Core is a set of standards adopted by North Carolina in 2010 to prepare students for college and careers. The standards focus on developing critical thinking skills through more rigorous and conceptual math and English language arts standards. He addressed common misconceptions around the standards and emphasized that they are not a curriculum but provide learning goals for students.

1. Parent education session:
Common core Q&A
Michael J. Maher, PhD
Assistant Dean, College of Education
NC State University
April 24, 2014

2. Introduction
• Michael Maher
• Current:
• Assistant Dean for Professional Education & Accreditation,
College of Education, NC State
• Oversight of teacher education and other school professionals
programs (counseling, social work, school administration,
psychology)
• K-12 & Teacher Education Policy
• Former:
• Assistant Professor, Teacher Education
• High School Science Teacher
• Family
• Two daughters enrolled in the Wake County Public Schools

3. Foundational
Concepts
• Perception is selective
• Perception filters through
our past experience
• Perception narrows when
we perceive a threat to our
sense of self, goals, or safety
• Problems arise when our
perception of a situation is
incomplete or distorted

4. Foundational
Concepts
• Perceptions and
interpretations occur almost
simultaneously
• Interpretations come from
our past relationships, it is
the “story” we tell ourselves
about what is happening

5. Foundational
Concepts
• Different people tell
themselves different stories
about the same perception
• Problems arise when:
• we assume our story is the
only reality

6. Foundational
Concepts
• New goals for education require intellectually demanding
experiences that are developmental and continuous as
opposed to brief and episodic.
• What we do in school can essentially be divided into two
categories
• Algorithmic: follow a set of established instructions down a
singular path to one conclusion
• Heuristic: a problem in which one experiments with
possibilities to devise a novel solution

7. What?
• What is the Common Core?
• The Common Core is a set of College and Career-Ready
standards for grades k-12 in Mathematics &
English/Language Arts
• The standards represent goals for student learning
• They are NOT a curriculum
• They DO include both algorithmic and heuristic
standards.

8. When?
• When were the Common Core standards adopted by
NC?
• The Standards were adopted by NC in 2010
• Full implementation began in 2012-2013

9. When?
North Carolina first established a
Standard Course of Study
(SCOS) in 1898
• NC SCOS provides every
content area with a set of
competencies for each
grade and high school
course
• The NCSCOS includes the
Common Core Standards
(Math & ELA) and
Essential Standards (all
other subjects)
• Standards are regularly
reviewed and updated
(approximately every 5
years)

10. WHy?
• Why did NC adopt the Common Core Standards?
• In 2010, NC was one of 12 states to win a federal Race to
the Top grant totaling nearly $400 million.
• One requirement of the grant competition was that the
state utilize College & Career Ready standards.

11. Who?
• Who was involved in the development of the Common
Core Standards?
• The standards began with the work of the National
Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief
State School Officers
• The standards themselves were developed by teachers,
content & pedagogy experts, administrators, parents, and
state leaders in work groups and feedback groups.

12. Where?
• Where else have these standards been implemented
• Forty-four states, the District of Columbia, four
territories, and the Department of Defense Education
Activity (DoDEA) have adopted the Common Core State
Standards.

13. How?
• How do these standards impact teachers?
• Required professional development
• Increased collaboration
• Greater flexibility in developing curriculum
• Easier transition between grades

14. How?
• How do these standards impact children?
• More rigorous
• Fundamentally shift how we ask them to solve problems
• Not only allows children (families) to move more easily
between districts, but between states
• Allows parents to make informed decisions about the
quality of education since states will use common
benchmarks & standards
• Allows for more accurate international comparisons

15. How?
• Should I support the Common Core?
• That’s entirely up to you.

16. Common beliefs
• The Common Core are Federal Standards
• The Common Core was paid for by large
corporations
• The Common Core will increase testing in
North Carolina
• The is no way to modify/update the
standards

17. Questions?
• Contact Information:
• Email
• mjmaher@ncsu.edu
• Twitter
• @mj_maher
• Facebook
• Professional Education @ NCSU
• Website
• http://mjmaher.weebly.com/
• Slides
• http://www.slideshare.net/mjmaher

18. Resources
• Common Core Website::
http://www.corestandards.or
g/
• NPR:http://www.npr.org/20
14/03/18/291166780/q-a-a-
crash-course-on-common-
core?ft=1&f=1013
• Atlantic:http://www.theatlan
tic.com/education/archive/2
014/04/confusing-math-
homework-don-t-blame-the-
common-core/360064/
• Hechinger
Report:http://hechingerrepor
t.org/content/first-grade-
teacher-dives-into-common-
core-with-cautious-
optimism_13033/
• http://hechingerreport.org/c
ontent/parents-return-to-
school-to-help-children-with-
common-core-inspired-
homework_13873/
• http://hechingerreport.org/c
ontent/just-facts-please-
common-core-transforms-
schools-teach-writing_15452/

19. Resources
• WUNC:http://wunc.org/post/fa
ct-check-clearing-7-common-core-
claims
• US News & World
Report:http://www.usnews.com/
news/special-reports/a-guide-to-
common-
core/articles/2014/03/04/comm
on-core-myths-and-facts
• http://www.usnews.com/news/s
pecial-reports/a-guide-to-
common-
core/articles/2014/04/17/comm
on-core-honoring-the-societal-
contract-of-success-through-
education
• Edutopia:http://www.edutopia.o
rg/blog/common-core-critical-
thinking-aesop-vincent-mastro
• Education
Week:http://www.edweek.org/e
w/collections/common-core-in-
action-report-2014/index.html
• Common Core
Hearing:http://youtu.be/CpBjio
T7Z1Y 10:33