Research prospectus: Common Core State Principles

The Common Core State Principles have been implemented in a variety of jurisdictions throughout the United States (States may supplement the entirety of the Common Core with 15 percent of their own standards). There have also been many issues raised by parents and teachers, mostly about the education of students with multiple disabilities; the implementation of major and new programs necessitates extensive study due to the many problems that trigger misinformation and misunderstanding. In order to understand Common Core State Standards, it is important to identify what they are, how they were implemented, and various other details regarding them. Common Core Standards are described as various set of clear college and also career ready standards for kindergarten all through to the 12th grade in various subjects such as mathematics, literacy and English language arts ("Frequently Asked Questions,”).

Common Core standards are important because they are various high standards that are used consistently across various states. These are important because the parents, teachers and students are given various clear expectations that make sure that each and every student has the necessary skills and knowledge needed to succeed after graduation in high school, college and also in their career despite their living conditions (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). Common Core Standards are placed in relation to the various expectations of the schools such as colleges and various workforce training programs and also in relation to the employers.

With these standards equality is promoted such that all students are able to compete with their various peers in various countries abroad and also in the United States (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). There is collaboration among various states that range on various tools and policies and include; the development of books and various teaching materials and also the development of various tools and various supports that promote the learning of educators and also schools (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). My research question will focus on the question “Does Common Core allow for individualized instructions especially in relation to children with disabilities?

There are a range of questions that can be used to answer this common question. They include;

Are there any impacts of the standards on my dyslexia child or any other child suffering from any disability that is not able to read or write at the expected level?

Is it possible for me to help my child meet various expectations in assessment of learning when they are just learning to read?

Will the Common core standards allow my child with dyslexia to receive effective structured literacy instructions literacy instructions?

These standards will be effective for students with disability, their teachers and parents.

Literature review

The Common Core standards have been such that education treats their most vulnerable citizens in an equal way. Educators all over the countries have been able to design various lesson plans to help step up in a number of academic expectations. You will note that some subjects such as English and various language arts prove difficult for various high school students when they are required to read a number of challenging texts and in other instances compose arguments that are supposed to cite evidences from the texts they read.

Problems requiring mathematical applications will require a lot of hard work and enough struggles from students especially when they are required to provide steps on how they reached a specific conclusion to a question. Students are also expected to apply mathematical knowledge to various real life problems. Teachers will a test that it is not easy to develop such lessons for an ordinary student and when tasked with the job of designing such lessons for children with learning disabilities the task becomes twice as hard.

It is a common belief that students regardless of learning disabilities are able to do well in subjects such as history and science and other subjects. However, children suffering from dyslexia and other reading and writing difficultness were not able to access various important academic contents similar to that of their peers since their reading materials were quite behind in terms of years (Vocabulary and Comprehension Instruction for ELs in the Era of Common Core State Standards, 2013).

Students with learning difficulties in writing and reading are often overlooked particularly in how well they are able to grasp grade level academic contents. Implementing new common core individualized instructions will ensure that all students regardless of learning disabilities will have access to various core academic contents (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). With this in place, students will be assured of smooth learning programs and the necessary support system is needed for these common core instructions to be well implemented (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013).

An application document made specifically for students with learning disabilities and the document has outlined three main points in relation to the support system needed for students with various learning difficulties. These three key points include; (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013)

Availability of teachers and other support system personnel that are ready and qualified to ensure that students with learning disabilities receive high quality individualized instructions and other support services

There are also various supports and various related services that are designed specifically to ensure that the specific various needs of these students are met and that they are able to get access to the required education curriculum

In order for these students to attain their various annual goals, they need an Individualized Education Program implemented that will also help in the attainment of their various academic standards

Supports and Related Services for students with learning disabilities

According to common core standards, students need to be provided with various avenues in order for them to be able to access the various contents and also enable them to express what they generally know as they also have access to the general education curriculum (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). Various accommodations including various changes in materials and procedures and also use of technology and other services to assist these students are necessary (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). They should be able to work well without either of them compromising various high expectations for these students and also ensure that these students succeed in all subjects (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ).

Common Core Studies for individualized studies have developed a number of resources that have been able to help a number of students who cannot read or write on their own (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). Parents and teachers have for example promoted the use of various recorded texts and other technologies that have helped their children in accessing the curriculum (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). They may also have participated in their children’s individualized instruction studies (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). New standards might very well help in providing the necessary support system and also ensure that it is accomplished easily.

Research on Common Core Standards for individualized instructions

We have looked into various challenges facing the education systems and majorly focused on children with learning difficulties and how common core standards are been implemented to help them cope in schools. It is therefore necessary to look in to the research done on Common Core Standards and whether it allows for various individualized instructions for students. There are various common core standards, those that focus on the use of computers for adaptive testing that generally help in supplying teachers with information necessary for adjusting their teaching styles and also give their students various individualized instructions (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ).

Teachers are mostly required to make use of individualized instructions in order to teach but with the development of technology this makes it quite difficult. According to Common Core standards, students need to gain various skills every year (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). State education departments sometimes add a number of learning objectives for students each year and teachers need to teach students from the required core standards and this majorly comprise of their major goals in the classroom (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). The problem with advocating teachers to teach from their various prescribed standards at a prescribed pace is that students will not be able to think differently, all they will achieve is the ability to join college (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ).

The question however remains whether the Common Core standards will produce young men and women with the right careers that will also enhance independency or careers that will enable problem solving skills ("Frequently Asked Questions,”). There has been complains from various students who also feel that teacher’s only goal in class is to raise students test scores on various standardized tests and that the creativity and flexibility that was once felt before in classrooms was eliminated ("Frequently Asked Questions,”).

Standardization of curriculums has also destroyed the various chances required for individualization. According to research, the use of common core standards has been able to bring about individualization of studies (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). Every child in the United States is required to read the same books and also learn at the same rate while at the same time prepare to join colleges and advance in careers thereafter (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). Common core standards are used by almost all schools in the United States. Recent research has shown that individualized education is majorly successful when a teacher is able to identify a child’s strengths and weaknesses (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013)

Through these, the teacher is able to make children learn without any problems. Identifying strengths and weaknesses cannot be achieved through the use of computers that are majorly designed to change inputs on various questions (Vocabulary and Comprehension Instruction for ELs in the Era of Common Core State Standards, 2013). Individualized education is also not about a teacher not been able to help a struggling student after receiving a discouraging report on the student. A teacher will not find time to help children with learning difficulties because according to the set standards he or she must go through the entire curriculum before a given time (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ).

The common core standards are rigid and dehumanized and have adversely affected the quality of education (Vocabulary and Comprehension Instruction for ELs in the Era of Common Core State Standards, 2013). A liberal education is not promoted by the use of common core standards and children are not well prepared to face the world at large, and also are not well prepared on means of been good citizens (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ), this is due to the fact that children are majorly prepared on ways of joining college. Looking at children with learning disabilities, common core standards have developed ways in which they can be helped. The use of a reading pen generally provides sufficient support for children with learning challenges since they are able to get the required texts and also listen to textbooks and also enable you to read to them with audiobooks (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013).

Before enrolling your child in a learning environment it is necessary that you inquire on whether various options for children with learning difficulties have been implemented in the school ("Frequently Asked Questions,”). It is important as a parent to be aware of your child’s auditory responsiveness since some of these children will need texts to be read to them by patient individuals who will pause in the middle of reading and interact with them so that they can easily understand subjects ("Frequently Asked Questions,”). There are various forms of accommodation and support system put together by the common core standards to help children with learning disabilities.

Some of them include the use of a scribe or speech-to-text technology (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). This is mostly necessary to help determine the functioning level of the student in relation to the grade level they are at (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). With this, teachers will be able to identify the necessary supports that will enable them access the general curriculum and in turn achieve the various set standards (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013). There should be a decentralized approach to education that will enable teachers have the opportunity to teach small group of classes (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). With these small groups, teachers will be aware of when to introduce various concepts and where they should majorly base their focus in relation to the need of the students.

Decentralized approach of teaching students will also benefit children with learning difficulties since teachers will be able to focus on each and every student without any problems. Students will be able to be taught as individuals and not as groups or machines that need to be controlled by specific computer programs (The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards ). However, it is unfortunate that with the current Common Core Standards such an approach is not possible. Students with learning disabilities have the same right as other students to be taught the same content as other students (Vocabulary and Comprehension Instruction for ELs in the Era of Common Core State Standards, 2013).

However, necessary support is required based especially on their individual needs. These will be necessary for them since they will be able to gain knowledge and skills and they will also be able to demonstrate on what has been learnt. There are Individualized Education Programs for children with disabilities put in place by the federal law and which helps in identifying annual goals that are tailored to meet the child’s needs majorly resulting from disabilities (Vocabulary and Comprehension Instruction for ELs in the Era of Common Core State Standards, 2013).

With these programs these children will be able to get involved and make changes to the general curriculum. In New York for example, students have new learning standards and therefore teachers are expected to teach these new learning standards and also students are required to learn them using high level critical thinking techniques (Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards, 2013).

Conclusion

According to the various reports on Common Core Standards and Individualized instructions, it is right to state that not much has been done by this standard. It has not improved learning standards for individual students since the same curriculum is used for the entire student population regardless of individual differences.

References

"Frequently Asked Questions,”. (n.d.). Retrieved 06 2013, from Common Core State Standards Initiative: http://www.corestandards.org/resources/frequently-asked-questions.

Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards. (2013, 03 12). Critical Issues for the Implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Early Literacy Language Development: Research and Practice.

Vocabulary and Comprehension Instruction for ELs in the Era of Common Core State Standards. (2013, 03 13). Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards.

States may supplement the entirety of the Common Core with 15 percent of their own standards. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 2009, from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-11 -18/pdf/E9-27427.pdf.

The Promises and Possibilities of Common Core State Standards . (n.d.). Leading the Common Core State Standards: From Common Sense to Common Practice .