NEW JERSEY COALITION FOR WORLD CLASS MATH
www.niworldclassmath.webs.com
Testimony to the State Board of Education, March 17,2010
Presented by Anne Clark
Good afternoon President Hernandez and members of the State Board. Thank
you for this opportunity to share with you our recommendations for the process
for review and adoption of the Common Core State Standards.
My name is Anne Clark. I am a member of the New Jersey Coalition for
World Class Math. I have a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering, and
before I chose to stay home and raise my son, I ran a plastics compounding
facility for a major US conglomerate.
My colleagues have discussed preliminary feedback on the public draft of
the Common Core State Standards, and the questions we believe must be
answered to make a well-informed decision as to how to modify and/or
adopt these standards. I would like to discuss the process we recommend
that the Department and State Board follow for review and adoption of the
proposed standards.
The current public comment period is our last opportunity to impact the
content and skills of the math and English language arts standards. We
recommend that the Department of Education actively solicit feedback from
2 and 4-year colleges and universities to assess whether these standards will
prepare students for post-secondary studies. This solicitation should include,
but not be limited to, math and literature departments. All departments have
expectations that need to be understood to assess whether the proposed
standards are adequate, at a minimum.
Second, we recommend, if the Department does not receive feedback from a
representative group of districts, that it directly contact supervisors and teachers
from well-regarded districts of varying District Factor Groups in order to assess
whether the standards meet the districts' expectations.
Third, we recommend that the State Board take public testimony at next
month's meeting to hear more complete and considered feedback. As of
today, it has been only one week since the drafts were released - hardly
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enough time for a thorough review. Our Coalition has been focused on
communications regarding the standards' release, and we have only just
begun our formal review.
We understand that Dr. Alberti will be compiling and crafting a summary of
all the responses the Department receives ITom the wide array of
stakeholders in our state for the math standards. We recommend that the
Board schedule a special meeting to discuss the feedback Dr. Alberti
receives so there is time to consider what changes we expect the Common
Core to make, or New Jersey to incorporate after-the-fact, to ensure these
standards meet our state's needs. The deadline for feedback to the Common
Core is April 2nd. A special State Board meeting could be scheduled for the
following week to give Dr. Alberti time to prepare her recommendations. A
similar process should be followed for English language arts.
It is anticipated that the final Common Core Standards will be issued in May.
We recommend that the State Board request a 60 day public comment period,
as would be expected for any proposed standards adoption. This will allow
the Department to again solicit feedback ITom stakeholders, and develop a
recommendation as to if and how the standards must be amended before
consideration for adoption. We believe 60 days is an aggressive time line
because again stakeholders will need time for review, and the Department
will need time to develop recommendations for additional content, skills, or
other details which are needed to best serve our students.
It is important to note that New Jersey does not have to adopt the Common
Core standards verbatim. The Race to the Top awards points to states that
adopt standards for which the common core makes up at least 85%. It is
important that the Department of Education ascertain whether the standards
should be amended before recommending adoption. We believe the 60-day
period allows them to do this work with careful consideration of the impact
for common assessments, textbooks, and other resources we anticipate to be
developed based on the Common Core.
In summary, we recommend that the Department actively solicit feedback,
and if necessary make special requests to ensure it has heard from a
representative group of stakeholders. We recommend that the Department
and Board follow a deliberative process for review and adoption.
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These standards will change what is being taught in New Jersey. These
standards will change when students will be taught concepts and skills in
New Jersey. These standards will lay a foundation for teacher training,
textbook development, assessments, and graduation requirements. Their
adoption must be considered only after careful deliberation.
Thank you for listening to our input today, and for your service to our great
state.
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