As a parent, grandparent, district volunteer, community worker and just plain concerned citizen, I began to wonder what all the buzz was about concerning Common Core Standards. So I used the Internet to search for answers.

First, what are Common Core Standards? They are the benchmarks developed by a diverse group of educators and citizens nationwide in 2010 and adopted by 47 states. These will become the standards by which all students in Illinois will be measured starting next school year.

They were developed to ensure that students from K-12th grade will become college and career ready in the 21st century. It replaces what is now known as the Illinois Learning Standards, which were created in 1995 in the areas of English language arts, social science and math.

After researching several sites, both pro and con, with regard to the Common Core Standards, I have learned that we are returning to basics as they relate to the world today and requiring students to engage their brains. While there will be testing, it will be geared more to determining, at more frequent and consistent intervals, what the students have learned and how they will use the information.

Read more: http://www.sj-r.com/article/20140315/News/140319537#ixzz2yWocr4nY