On July 7, 2010, with a unanimous vote, the State Board of Education adopted new national academic standards, known as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathematics. Their purpose is to establish benchmarks for public school students across the nation from kindergarten through 12th grade.
AFT Connecticut has worked to make sure that teacher voices are heard since 2009. As a result, classroom educators have been instrumental in revising the standards to their current form.
In 2010, AFT Connecticut created a committee to formulate recommendations for the introduction of the standards and that committee developed 38 recommendations. Then in 2014, our union moved the Malloy-Wyman Administration to take immediate action on urgent issues regarding poor implementation of Common Core in local districts across the state.
The governor responded by establishing a working group with classroom educators to review and assess how adoption of these new standards has impacted student learning. By executive order, he created the Educators’ Common Core Implementation Taskforce which included six teachers who are members of AFT local unions.
The working group’s recommendations serve as a foundation for an ongoing effort to identify and address challenges with the standards. The Malloy-Wyman Administration has responded by announcing the “CT Core Initiative,” allocating significant state resources to implement its proposals, including funds, time and expertise for professional development and training.
Delegates to AFT’s national convention earlier passed a resolution in July reaffirming support for the promise and potential of CCSS while sharply criticizing botched implementation in schools across the country. The resolution lays out an action plan for providing educators, parents and students with the tools, resources and supports needed to make them work in the classroom.
Click here for the national Common Core State Standards Initiative website.
Click here for the Connecticut State Department of Education’s for educators and parents on Common Core.
Click here for AFT’s video on how teachers helped develop Common Core State Standards.
Click here for the Malloy-Wyman Educators’ Common Core Implementation Taskforce webpage, with links to documents, meeting minutes and video.
Click here for “Role of Standards in Public Education” resolution at AFT’s website.
AFT Ad Hoc Committee Recommendation on CCSS Rollout
Gov. Malloy’s Call to Establish Workgroup for Review of CCSS
Executive Order on the Educators’ Common Core Implementation Taskforce
Report of the Educators’ Common Core Implementation Taskforce
