Thursday, September 05, 2013

Sen. Keaveny: These Common Core Standards are nifty

Even as the drumbeat continues to grow against the implementation of Common Core Standards in Missouri schools, the standards do have their supporters, including Sen. Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis, who praises them in his latest newsletter.

Our state's assessment for English language arts and literacy and mathematics are changing for the 2014-15 school year to reflect school districts' move from their current state standards to the Common Core State Standards. These new set of standards will help Missouri schools better assess program effectiveness and improve student achievement utilizing technology.

To learn more about Missouri's Common Core Standards, visitwww.dese.mo.gov. This computer-based program determines which skills students have mastered and what areas of learning need more attention. Teachers will have a new tool to differentiate instruction, provide efficient and secure ways to gather information about our state's students, and show more accurate scores for all students across the learning spectrum.

Instead of waiting months to receive our students' scores, this new system will produce test results within weeks. This means educators can apply this information to their lesson plans, better meet each student's unique learning needs, and prepare our students for the future.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has posted a practice test online:http://sbac.portal.airast.org/practice-test.

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