This document outlines challenges and solutions for teachers, parents, administrators, and students in implementing new English/Language Arts Standards. For teachers, challenges include having students cite evidence and focus on speeches, while solutions involve scaffolded practice and student discussions. Parents face difficulties understanding and helping with the Standards, which workshops could address. Administrators struggle with assessment grading and teacher evaluation, and working with other schools and seminars could help. For students, a challenge is changing how they answer questions, and building skills over time rather than immediate citation is a suggested solution.
2. Teachers
• Challenges
– Teaching students to cite evidence from the text in
their answers.
– Give more attention to the speeches and listening
to texts being read.
• Solutions
– Start by having students answer pointed questions
by using evidence, and then let them do more of
the work as the year goes on.
– Have the students do more discussions and
critique the answers of other students.
3. Parents
• Challenges
– Knowing how to decipher the Standards.
– It may be hard for some parents to help their child
with the work they are doing.
• Solutions
– Have workshops for parents at the beginning of
the school year. These will help them better
understand the Standards and show them ways to
help their children with their work.
4. Administrators
• Challenges
– Administering and grading assessments (such as
benchmark tests)
– Assessing how well teachers are implementing the
Standards
• Solutions
– Have the administrators work together with other
schools to find the best way to grade the
assessments.
– Go to seminars for Common Core to see the best
ways to assess teachers.
5. Students
• Challenges
– Learning to answer questions and write open-
ended responses differently than before.
• Solutions
– Build up to what the Standard is assessing. Don’t
start out by making students cite specific
evidence; have them build upon their skills
throughout the year to where they can answer
effectively by the end of the year.