College and Career Ready Standards deemed important for student success

“I think it is an important concept that parents and students both need to understand,” she said. “By the time they graduate, they will have the common set of skills they need to be able to transition into postsecondary education or the workforce.”

According to the West Virginia State Department of Education, Common Core standards for schools were appealed in West Virginia and the College and Career Ready Standards were adopted as a result of feedback from West Virginians regarding the clarity of the state’s educational standards.

Students in the state are held to the same expectations as students across the country, but the new standards focus on developing world skills and a deeper understanding of content, not just basic memorization and test-taking skills.

During a seminar Sperry held for parents in Bridgeport, the biggest concern for them was understanding the different between the standards and curriculum.

“We want students to know and understand things,” she said. “These standards represent goals that we want to have for our children, while curriculum is what teaches the student to get to the goal. These standards set goals for students so they can be ready for success.”

Also during the seminar, Sperry discussed the importance of the summative assessment and utilizing resources available through county board’s of education.

“We support the College and Career Ready Standards because they focus on the needs of every child and encourage them to reach their full potential,” she said. “When they leave high school, students should have a complete understanding of what their options are and with these standards, they will receive the necessary skills to pursue those options.”

“The College and Career Ready Standards we use today teach understanding,” said Jamie Merendino, county elementary curriculum specialist and previous math teacher and coach. “Before, in math, we were teaching step-by-step how to get to an answer, which causeed a problem for our students because it wasn’t making sense to them.”

With the new standards, Merendino said students are bridging the gap between memorization and understanding so things aren’t memorized step-by-step, but instead understood and recalled.

“We need parents to know and understand the purpose behind these standards because then they are able to support their children,” she said. “Ask them questions and push them to reach the standard goals. You can’t simply end up at the answer. You have to understand how you got there.”

Wendy Imperial, assistant superintendent of curriculum, technology and instruction, said families are encouraged to learn what their children are studying in school and utilize school resources.

“They provide great insight in the standards at each level,” she said. “Our resources provided on the Harrison County Board of Education website gives great guidance for what a student is expected to learn at each grade level and how the standards scaffold from one grade to the next.”

Content Standards are listed by grade level and can be found at www.harcoboe.com under the “Links” tab, Imperial said. The lists provide standards for each grade level and subject.