SPED 3100

March 5, 2015
Common Core Extra Credit Assignment

Ashley Kania

Summarize and explain the Common Core in laymen's terms.

The Common Core is a set of goals and standards in English language arts and
mathematics for students in kindergarten through 12th grade to help them become college and
career ready. There is a certain content in these subjects that must be covered under the Common
Core however it is not a set curriculum that states have to follow. Every state that has adopted the
Common Core, or will in the future, has done so voluntarily and freely. State and local levels of
the government are in charge of everything about how the Common Core will be enforced in the
classroom, the curriculum and support teachers may use/need and any other implementations that
go along with the standard.
Starting in kindergarten the goal of the Common Core across the country is to prepare
students to for college and the real world after high school as they become adults and have to
make real important decisions for themselves. The Common Core prepares students to take on
harder things in the future by preparing them one step at a time now. An idea of the Common
Core is that if a student were to move from their home across the country, for example, that this
student would be able to understand what is being taught in their new classroom as much as (s)he
did in his/her old classroom. This would be because the overall ideas and concepts in the new
classroom are the same, but the materials just may be different. Every student has a fair
opportunity now because they are learning the same concepts even if they are using different
materials or books in English language arts or even different numbers in math. A standard of the
Common Core establishes a guideline of what each should be taught in English language arts and
math for each grade level. Before taking the next step in the concepts that a students is learning

SPED 3100
March 5, 2015
Common Core Extra Credit Assignment

Ashley Kania

to ensure that the students have mastered the previous concepts, they are/will be tested on the
concepts.
In English language arts the concepts that are covered across the Common Core include
Shakespeare; American founding documents; classic myths and stories from around the world;
and foundational American literature. Based off these concepts in English that the standard
covers across the board students should then be able to take their knowledge from they have
acquired and continue to build off of this through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In
mathematics, there are some basic concepts that are a part of the standard of the standard of the
Common Core that include decimals; fractions; subtraction; addition; whole numbers;
multiplication; and division.
For students with disabilities or for students that speak English as a second language,
they are not the exception to the Common Core. Students with documented disabilities covered
under the IDEA are given the necessary support needed to work towards high academic
standards that are set for that individual that will demonstrate his/her understanding of reading,
writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics. Students that speak English as a second language
are still included in the Common Core and taught the same thing as their peers, however these
students may receive some accommodations such as the materials be in a different language, or
be at a different grade level if they are limited English, yet the content will be the same.