As the Common Core State Standards (2012) move forward in implementation, a significant concern surrounding that process is curricular re-alignment.  Just when district and schools thought they had managed to align to standards, the standards change and a re-alignment is necessitated.

An implementation plan will likely require performing a side-by-side comparison of the existing standards with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to identify any CCSS items that are not addressed or are misplaced in the current standards structure. The results of the comparison analysis will necessitate revision of lesson plans and curriculum guides to identify where the Common Core State Standards are addressed in the lessons and to update curriculum guides and lesson plans to account for missing or misplaced standards. At several points throughout the school year, the implementation will need to be assessed and adjustments made. As in most organizations, the majority of this work will fall on the shoulders of the busiest people. In schools, that typically translates as teachers.

So, how do busy teachers both in the classroom and online manage this re-alignment to a new set of standards without taking unnecessary time away from the primary task of teaching? For many teachers, this is a daunting idea with no plausible solution. However, from an external perspective, teachers are a resilient group of individuals; they routinely solve problems, revel in success, and recover from failure. They are naturally resourceful. For example, a single lesson may need to reach 35 students with 20 different learning styles. Teachers being the resourceful individuals that they are make this happen on a daily basis and smile while doing it. So, as huge as the task of aligning to the CCSS may seem, teachers will assuredly manage not only to balance it with their plans and existing work load but also to do it well. That's just what teachers do.

References

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2012). Common core state standards initiative. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/.