'Carroll Values Education' Hosts Forum on Common Core State Standards, Assessments

Find yourself confused trying to figure out what "Common Core" is and what it means for your children? Carroll Values Education is partnering with Parents Guides of Carroll County Public Schools to shed some light on Common Core and assessments. 

Common Core has been a hot topic in Carroll County, as evidenced by several meetings between the Board of Education and the Board of Carroll County Commissioners during the county's budgeting sessions earlier this year. 

One one meeting of the two Boards, Commissioner Richard Rothschild suggesting taking court action to try to get out having to follow Common Core Standards in Carroll County. 

"I think we should file suit to try to stop Common Core so that we retain autonomy in our county to teach the way our experts think is best, not the way the federal government thinks," Rothschild said.  "Just because something is law doesn't mean it can't be challenged ... the defacto federalization of education is not tolerable to me, I know where this is going."

In that meeting, CCPS Superintendent Stephen Guthrie explained that adopting the Common Core State Standards is state law. He added that Common Core establishes the skill set students need to learn for assessments but that Carroll County educators create the curriculum that dictates how the skills are taught and what resources are used.

Maryland was one of the first States in the nation to adopt the Common Core State Standards in reading/English language arts and mathematics. The State Board of Education adopted the standards by unanimous vote in June 2010, according to the Maryland State Department of Education. 

According to the State Department of Education website:

"The Common Core State Standards initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. These rigorous education standards establish a set of shared goals and expectations for what students should understand and be able to do in grades K-12 in order to be prepared for success in college and the workplace. The standards are research and evidence based and internationally benchmarked. They have been voluntarily adopted by a total of 45 states and the District of Columbia."

Partnership of Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC assessments, are being implemented in Carroll County Public Schools.

According to PARCConline.org, The PARCC assessment system will provide students, educators, policymakers and the public with the tools needed to identify whether students — from grade three through high school — are on track for postsecondary success and, critically, where gaps may exist and how they can be addressed well before students enter college or the workforce.

The forum is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Winters Mill High School in Westminster. For more information visit the Carroll Values Education Facebook page.