COMMON CORE: PARTS I, II, & III

In keeping with our theme for 2012-2013, Eliminate, Elevate, and Escalate, we attempted to eliminate the barriers to education by holding a series of interactive and intense convocations for the community of Central Brooklyn. We sought to elevate its awareness of the new State Common Core Standards, and, thereby, escalate the time needed to increase the knowledge base that families possessed about the new State initiative.

As a result, ASI held several dynamic sessions on the Common Core Standards on three consecutive Saturdays during the Fall 2012, Spring, 2103 and Fall 2013  at Boys and Girls High School. Topics discussed included: What are the Common Core Standards?; Why Are They Important?; and What Are the Instructional Shifts Demanded by the Common Core in both ELA and Math? Outstanding educators conducted ELA and MATH workshops with parents on all three levels: elementary, middle, and high school.

Over 200 parents attended each session; they received material each Saturday for use at home with their children. Common Core Toolkits and certificates of participation were given to parents on the last Saturday of the event.

While parents were targeted for these sessions, we found the initiative particularly attractive to educators who attended all three Saturdays in large numbers. As a result, we succeeded in providing professional development for school teams in Central Brooklyn and Queens.

In addition, students participated in the Common Core Workshops; student leaders assumed responsibilities for registration activities, etc. and provided assistance to workshop leaders throughout the event. They were recognized at the final plenary session with certificates of community service.

During the Fall of 2013, ASI conducted Part III of the CCSS Sessions. The 2013 sessions were conducted on September, 21, 28 and October 5th. The theme for the sessions: “Do You Know What Your Child’s Scores Mean?” was an overwhelming success. Building on sessions I & II parents were provided with in depth presentations to assist in understanding how the new assessments have changed, what the scores mean, and concrete ways to help their children at home. Sessions were conducted for elementary, middle and high school grades, focusing the content areas of English Language Arts and Math.