This is the text transcript to "Part 2: End of public comment and SBE unanimous vote" video featured on the Why the Common Core State Standards in California? web page.
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Godinez: Good morning everybody. Juan Godinez from
Los Angeles Unified School District, Parent
Advisory Committee. As you
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can see, one minute is hard. I will try. We generally
support algebra I in eighth grade...about time. Two years
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ago, I told you in my testimony about the California
education system. I know initially it is going
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to be hard, like NCLB is, maybe unattainable, but LEAs are
going to put the effort into it. At least they are
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going to try and that's what I like about
it, but at the end, it doesn't matter what happens
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with the Common Core Standards. It is of the
upmost importance to let the parents know
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about the standards. They need to know what
the kids are supposed to be learning, not just in
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8th grade, but this is a process throughout, and
it has not been done successfully previously.
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Let the parents know how we can help you help
our kids learn, and being a minority or low
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income has nothing to do with learning. What
we need is a quality education accessible
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for everybody. Thank you. Michell: Thank you and perfect
timing. Rice: The next three are Pixie Hayward-Schickele,
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Martha Zaragoza-Diaz, and Lauri Burnham Massey.
Hayward-Schickele: Good morning President Mitchell, Board,
Superintendent.
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I'm Pixie Hayward-Schickele representing the
California Teachers Association and it's my
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great pleasure this morning to introduce the
Vice President of the California Teachers
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Association, Dean Vogel. I'd also like to give
what's left of my time to him. Thank you. Vogel: Good
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morning. I'm very happy to be here and thank
you for your thoughtful attention to what's
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before us. I am for the record Dean Vogel,
Vice President at the California Teachers
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Association. I am here on behalf of my president
who has business in LA. The California Teachers
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Association supports the adoption of the Common
Core Standards and we are very, very encouraged
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by what we hear here today and the work that's
before you. That being said, we do
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have a reservation around the eighth grade
math concern, much of it voiced here. We implore
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you to be thoughtful and careful as you attend
to the implementation of the 8th grade math, in
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particular algebra. We believe that there's
a potential for the pathway approach dealing
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with students who aren't quite ready for algebra
in the eighth grade to lead to tracking, and
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we hope that you'll be diligent in attending
to that issue and careful to monitor and assure
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us that tracking does not take place. The ultimate
success of the Common Core as has been stated
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earlier is going to depend on full implementation
and full funding and it's also got to be attention
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to all schools, all students, not just some
schools, and we know that you will give that
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careful attention as well. We have a tremendous
opportunity here before us, ladies and gentlemen,
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tremendous opportunity to move California
forward and continue the work that this board
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has been doing and the California Teachers
Association is enthusiastically supportive
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of the work and we support wholeheartedly
the adoption of the Common Core. Please remember
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that careful alignment to curriculum, the appropriate
text books, assessment, professional development
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are all very important. We urge your adoption
of the Common Core. Thank you. Mitchell: Thank you
very much. Zaragoza-Diaz: Good morning President and
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members of the board. My name is Martha Zaragoza-Diaz
and I'm representing the California Association
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for Bilingual Education and the Californians
Together Coalition. First, I'd like to thank
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the Commission and its members as well as
this SCOE staff for a yeoman's job that they've
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done and meeting their charge within the tight
time constraints that they had...that they had
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to face. We certainly appreciate the recognition
in the introduction with regard to the fact
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that there are certain students, such as English
learners and special education, that may require
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additional support in attaining the standards
outlined in the document. We support the Common
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Core Standards. However, we believe that...that
the board can take it one step further. You
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have our letters already outlining our concerns
but our bottom line is this: if we are to
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assist teachers in differentiating content
instruction and ensuring that English language
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development is provided to English learners
so that they can become fully proficient and
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literate in English, it is highly recommended
that the English language development standards
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be an integral part of the Common Core State
Standards and that they be included as one
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of the strands or be aligned within each strand
of the grade-level language arts standards.
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It is critical that their revision and integration
be done as quickly as possible and we took
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the privilege and provided a recommended time
line that we think is doable. We seek your
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commitment...we seek your commitment to return
to this issue later this year. It is a very
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significant issue for English learners. California's
English language development standards are
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considered model English language proficiency
standards nationally. California once again
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has an opportunity to lead the nation by providing
an exemplary aligned English language proficiency
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model for other states to use. Our organization
stands ready to assist you in this very important
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effort. Thank you. Mitchell: Thank you. Burnham-Massey:
Good morning my name is Lauri Burnham and I give my time to
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be added to the time of next speaker Shelly Spiegel
Coleman. Thank you. Spiegel Coleman: Good morning
President Mitchell,
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Superintendent O'Connell, and Board members.
I'm Shelly Spiegel Coleman with Californians
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Together. We recommend that the same staircase
approach of building complexity from grade
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level to grade level in the Common Core Standards
and the supplemental approach of the artful
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inclusion of K-8 content literacy standards
to supplement the state's content standards
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be equally directed at meeting the needs of
English learners. In California, we need to
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align our current English language development
standards to the approved Common Core Standards
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if we are to give our teachers the additional
support that they need to bring students to
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grade level Common Core Standards. These English
language development or English language proficiency
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standards would be just like the content literacy
standards, not replacing the language arts
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standards but supplementing them. Without this
work this at the state level, each district
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school, or teacher would be left to define
what does it mean to give extra time to promote
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language proficiency. They themselves would
have to create the clear alignment and write
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new standards where holes may exist. If the
state does not do this, then schools, districts,
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and teachers might ignore or better yet be
overwhelmed by this critical task. Districts
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like Alisal, with 68.8 percent of their student
body being English learners, Hoover Elementary
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School in LAUSD with 83.6 percent of their
students being English learners, need our leadership
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on this issue. We recommend the adoption of
the Common Core Standards today to meet the
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short time line that you have before you but
in your resolution, we ask you to adopt language
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as part of the implementation plan that states
that the State Board and the Department of
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Education will use all appropriate current
funds and any new state or federal funds to
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do the developmental work to bring English
learners into the new and exciting possibility
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of Common Core Standards for all. We too stand
ready to help you on this task. Thank you. Rice: President
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Mitchell, the next three are Cheryl Ortega,
Barbara Flores, and Gretchen Muller. Ortega: Good morning.
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My name is Cheryl Ortega and I represent United
Teachers Los Angeles representing over 220,000
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English language learners in our school district.
We'd like to thank the Commission for their
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work in developing the ELA standards but we
also are strongly encouraging or recognizing
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the need to articulate that added support
may be required for English language learners.
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We can't emphasize enough the need to connect
the ELA standards with the ELD standards. For teachers
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to have the most explicit guidelines in directing
instruction for English language learners,
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the ELP standards must be distinctly articulated
and taught explicitly. The more explicit the
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road map, in this case the ELP standards, the
more successful the student will be in reaching
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his or her final academic destination of English
proficiency, so we feel strongly at UTLA that
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ELP standards must be aligned to the ELC Common
Core...ELA Common Core Standards but be distinctly
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articulated so that I and my fellow teachers
can do a better job in creating scaffolded lessons
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that are developmentally appropriate, linguistically
sound, and ultimately successful in helping
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our students. Thank you. Mitchell: Thank you. Flores:
Good morning President Mitchell, Superintendent O'Connell,
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State Board members. My name is Dr. Barbara Flores.
I wear many hats. I'm a university professor.
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My field of expertise is language arts, L1 and L2. I'm
a teacher of teachers. I'm currently the Vice
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President of San Bernardino city Unified
School District, and I come to you today, though,
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as president of the Alliance for a Multilingual
Multicultural Education. On behalf of the
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Alliance of a Multilingual Multicultural Education,
we would like to submit this testimony regarding
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the California Academic Content Standards
Commission's recommendations to adopt the
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Common Core Standards. We are an alliance of
state organizations, affiliates, and committee
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members that have formed a national collective
advocacy agenda for multilingual, bilingual,
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and English language learners. Currently we
are one of the three organizations, along with
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the Council of Chief of State Officers and
the Council of Great City Schools sponsoring
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the fall summit on the impact of Common Core
Standards of English language learners...just
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one more paragraph...We want to recommend that...
we support the recommendations of the California
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Common Standards but we also highly recommend
that the State Board of Education also established
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a commission to create English language proficiency
standards that are aligned with the English
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language arts content standards in order to
provide better policies and guidelines for
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instruction practices for teachers teaching
English language learners and in order to
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accomplish this, the current ELD standards
can be revised, edited, and expanded to align
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with the adopted and improved language arts
common Core Standards. Thank you. Mitchell: Thank you
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very much. So we do need your help folks...I was
thinking about time, but I'm happy to know
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that too. Muller: Good morning. I'm Gretchen Muller.
I'm with the California Math Council and I
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am reading a statement on behalf of Bruce
Grip who was a commissioner and couldn't be
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here today. He says: Distinguished Members of
the California State Board of Education, I
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urge you to accept the recommendation of the Academic
Content Standards Commission and adopt for
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California the Common Core State Standards
with the additions noted in the CCSS draft
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for California. As a member of the Commission,
I am proud of the work that we did and agree
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with the recommendation to adopt the CCS. I
also support this recommendation as a high
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school math teacher. He says he values the
thoughtful and balanced development of mathematics
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in the CCSS from kindergarten through high school.
What I appreciate most is how the high level
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of rigor is enhanced by relevance. The
infusion of the eight standards for mathematical
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practice and the emphasis throughout the Common
Core Standards on mathematical modeling and
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real-world contexts add both meaning and rigor
to improve students understanding of mathematics.
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As a high school mathematics teacher I would
be pleased to teach integrated courses common
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in other countries or traditional high school
mathematics content to students with the quality
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mathematical preparation based upon these
Common Core Standards. Thank you. Bruce Grip, high school
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math teacher. Mitchell: Thank you. Rice: Cheryl Ortega,
John Deasy, and Suzanne Solomon. I skipped someone.
I thought
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it was Cheryl but it was Alicia, right? It's Alicia.
Sorry about that. Moran: Good morning.
Like everyone before me, I agree for you to
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adopt the Core Standards. I'm here as a person
who for many years worked as an administrator
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with students who were on their way to being
dropouts because of they're low skills, many which
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unfortunately are ELD learners, so I'm just
here to ask you to yes, adopt the Core Standards
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but please remember it is very critical that
you align those to the ELD standards so that
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those students who have the lowest skills
will not continue to fall through the cracks
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and so that they're teachers can help them
and I'm just here to say that my concern is
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for those students especially who have the
lowest proficiency levels and so that they...
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I'm afraid that if you don't align the ELD
standards to the core standards...that their
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needs will not be met. Mitchell: Thanks. Moran:
Ok. Deasy: President Mitchell, Superintendent O'Connell,
and distinguished
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members of the Board. Thank you for allowing
me to make a few comments this morning on
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the decision in front of you. On the adoption
of the Common Core. I'm John Deasy, new deputy
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superintendent in LA Unified. Mitchell: Welcome back
to California, John. Deasy: It's great to be back to
California.
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Three minutes...I get them back. I strongly supported
after the Common Core. California has always
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taken the lead in the nation for strong standards
for youth and you have taken time to thoroughly
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research these standards, examine their interplay
with a framework, and begin for a strong assessment
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system aligned with these standards. Now is
the time to formally adopt them and take the
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lead for the country to see what strong and
thoughtful implementation looks like. I read
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the standards thoroughly, cover to cover, and
I believe the academics speak for themselves
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but this is also a social justice issue. Universal
access and universal acquisition for every
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youth to the standards is imperative. I would
like to pose two concerns that you should be
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mindful of. One is the algebra pathway issue.
While I do not think it should stop the adoption
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of the Common Core, I believe that there is the
potential for youth to be unwisely counseled
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on which path to take. I would urge you to
publicly monitor who is taking the pathway
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and how they're doing and second, the comments
made I strongly support on the ELD standards...
that they be
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strictly and carefully crosswalked
with the ELA standards. I look forward to my
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part, after you make a decision today, in helping
all teachers and principals develop the skills
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necessary to completely implement these standards
so that we can make the success for every
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single student a reality. Thank you kindly. Mitchell:
Thank you, John. Solomon: Susan Solomon, Vice President
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of Education for the California State PTA.
President Mitchell, Superintendent O'Connell, distinguished
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Board members, the California State PTA, representing
over six million children, supports the Common
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Core Standards so that all children will be
ready for college and for the workforce and,
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as has been stated, implementation is key and
the implementation of these core standards
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should be done in the real landscape of what California's
political economy is so that 4 to 10
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years from now, we don't look back at this
reform movement and say what happened? Our
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children are not performing as we planned
and the outcomes are not as we thought, so
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implementation needs to be thoughtful, careful,
and responsible and smart. Thank you. Mithell: Thank
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you. Rice: Fred Navarro, Scott Hill, and Monica Henestroza.
Navarro: Good afternoon President Mitchell,
State Superintendent,
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members of the Board. Fred Navarro, Assistant
Superintendent of Anaheim Union High School District.
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I want to commend you for moving forward with the
Common Core Standards concept. I just want
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to echo what many of the individuals have said
here earlier. It's really important that you
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have woven in the ELD standards throughout
the content areas. As a district that has 87
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percent of its eighth graders in algebra,
can say that my math teachers will tell you
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that the greatest obstacle for those kids
mastering the subject is their academic literacy
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and by weaving in the ELD standards throughout
all the core areas, you'll help us overcome
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that challenge. Thank you very much. Mitchell: Thank you.
Henestroza: Hello. Monica Henestroza on behalf of the San
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Diego Unified School District. I'm here with
three messages on behalf of Superintendent
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Bill Popa and our Board of Education. We strongly
support the adoption of the Common Core Standards
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with the California additions and there
are three issues that I'll outline. First is
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that we strongly believe that the adoption
will help us better meet our mission of college
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and career readiness for students. We think
these standards are better equipped to move
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us in that direction. Second, we want to highlight
the importance that adoption of the standards
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will have for students that are moving in and out
of the state. San Diego Unified is particularly
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affected because we serve 10,000 students of
military families and we think that's an important
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consideration in your vote. The third is that
we stand ready, like many other stakeholders
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do, to help you with the implementation. We
have a large population of English Learner
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students and we look forward to working with
you on those implementation issues as well
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as others. Thank you. Mitchell: Thank you. Hill:
Good morning President Mitchell, Superintendent
O'Connell,
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members of the Board. I'm Scott Hill with School
Innovations and Advocacy. A couple of quick points
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for you today. First, like many others I support
strongly and would encourage you to adopt this
California
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version of Common Core Standards. Second, President
Mitchell, Undersecretary Gaither, and Commission
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Chair Geeting said it very well and we've heard
today implementation matters, which is why
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I would make a very strong recommendation
to you. Your job today is quite narrow and
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quite focused. It is to adopt very specifically
the academic content standards and do as little
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as possible to prejudge or predispose where
the state will go in terms of the longer-term
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implementation issues. Those are all important.
You don't want to prejudge where those will
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take you into the future, so I would encourage
you to be very specific today in your actions
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around simply adopting the content standards. Thank you.
Mitchell: Thank you, Scott. Rice: Chris Steinhauser,
Mike Hanson,
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Walter Richardson, and Michael Shrek.
Steinhauser: Good morning President Mitchell,
Superintendent O'Connell, and members of the board.
My name's Chris Steinhauser,
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Superintendent of Long Beach Unified School
District, as well as a Member of the Validation
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Committee for the Common Core. On behalf of
Long Beach Unified, I urge you strongly to
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adopt these and we stand ready to support
you and others in the implementation. Thank
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you very much. Mitchell: Thank you, Chris. Hanson:
Morning President Mitchell, Superintendent O'Connell,
members of
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the Board. I am here as the Superintendent
of Fresno Unified representing 73,000 students,
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and I'd just like to slow this down a moment and talk
briefly about students. We are a district with...
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86 percent of our students are students of
color, 83 percent students living in poverty.
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A year ago in Fresno Unified we developed
a profile of students through our work in equity and
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access that we thought could make it an algebra
I. These were students who were basic coming
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out of seventh grade mathematics with the
scale score of 325 or around scale score 325.
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We en mass moved 800 students into algebra
I and folks didn't think they should be there.
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I'm proud to report to you that 667 of those students
are now proficient moving into high school.
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Algebra I is out of the way and they're proficient.
That will make for a dramatically different
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high school experience almost to a student.
They are poor and students of color, so rigorous
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clear standards matter. They push at the local
level. Students benefit and all the noise that
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you will hear downstream, I think it's just
all about us adults trying to figure
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out how to give Students access that they
so rightly deserve. We encourage you to strongly
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adopt the Common Core. Thank you. Mitchell: Thanks and
while Walter is coming up, I want to thank
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Mike and Chris for their leadership along
with Ray Cortinez in developing our Race to
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the Top application, so the traveling team
is here. Glad to see you guys. Walter: Good morning
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Board members, Superintendent. I'm Walt Richardson.
I'm from Los Angeles Unified School District,
second Vice Chair
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of the district's Advisory Committee. I represent
461,128 identified Title I students, and most of those
are LEP students...English language learners students. We
100 percent support the adoption of the Core academic
standards.
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We also...although kids might be minority, they might
learn differently, there's nothing wrong with their mind
for learning. We just
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hope that you will make sure that there's staff
development, that kids are learning at the
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grade level, that they are so that when they get into
the middle school, that they're not...teachers
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don't have to teach them at the 4th grade
level what they should've known in middle school.
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We also support you and your hard work that
you are doing. We're also asking, Miss Ruth Bloom, there,
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I was on the standards team in 1997. I'm hoping
that if you didn't have no parents or community folks
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at this one, next time when
you do this have parents and community folks
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there at the core part of this process. Thank
you very much. Mitchell: Thank you. Rice: Michael Shrek. That's
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all. Mitchell: Great, okay, thank you all very much and
thanks for helping us keep on our schedule.
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Very important comments. This is a critical
historic opportunity for the state but we
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need to be careful as we embark upon this
decision. Board members questions and comments?
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Yvonne and then David. Chan: Good afternoon. Well first
of all, I want to thank all of the speakers
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coming up to give us your input and particularly
the commissioners. I believe many of you
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are on Curriculum Commission, right? Still? Were?
was? Whatever...and I still remember Sue Stickel...
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you know...all those years plugging and helping
us with the standards-based reform for many, many
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years, so as Kathy Gather said, it's a great
start, the last 13 years, with the California
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Standards that helped us at the school base
to kind of move that forward. Now having said
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that, it is now I want to put on the hat of
a practitioner. I mean many of us get freaked
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out a little bit, okay, honestly, the last two
months they say what? This is coming and we're going
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to change everything we've been doing...you
know, the sacred cow of all the standards, but
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fortunately my school starts tomorrow...2,500
kids returning tomorrow, so last Thursday I
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was able to bring 130 teachers...all my teachers,
pre-k through 12, together and I gave them
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a draft--I downloaded it and gave them a draft--and
I said, okay, I'm going to serve food. I'm going to serve
coffee--I served everything
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except liquor--to kind of make sure that I'm
not going to get eggs on my face, okay, because
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I want to really hear what my teachers got
to say, to inform me how I'm going to vote
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today, okay, versus what you said. That's very
important, so what happened is I tried to sell
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at first I said, wait a minute, I'm educated.
I was educated in China and then Hong Kong.
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We have very rigorous international benchmarking
standards. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't
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have made it into UCLA, right, and you know,
be sitting right here in this horse shoe. I saw that
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this set of standards is college- and career-
ready, benchmarked against, you know, greatest nations
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with the highest test scores. Your team, whatever,
it is, when my own experience...I said, look teachers,
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we have to kind of start switching gears. Then
I put them in the rooms for four hours. Then
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they came back and this is their report. They
said, first of all, the first group said, hey
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you know what? Really, this is fewer standards.
I said, oh, is that a good thing, fewer standards, you know?
But then they said, no, no, it's more focused
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standards, much more focused, and I know sometimes
we blame ourselves as mile wide and inch deep
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for California standards compared to Japan,
for those who had the opportunity to visit
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you know schools in Singapore and Japan, and
they said, look, you know, really, like what Greg Geeting
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said, there is the crosswalk, so they're not
giving up their beloved standards that's already
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posted on all of the bulletin boards with
focused standards and deeper. Oh, good, okay,
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so they get me going. Then another group said...
now I have pre-k through 12, so I'm very cognizant
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What my secondary teachers are going to say.
Well, this group said, well, it is a progression
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instead of discrete standards in different
grades. It is, like you say, a staircase, very
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clear progression. Okay, great, you give me a second
point. Now come my secondary people, my science
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teacher, and my history social studies teachers,
and they said, what? You mean we are teaching
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literacy? You are out of your mind. That's what
I thought they would say but no, the department
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chair said, well that's nice to have them clearly
tell us that we are also responsible for writing,
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reading, and language, and then we will work
with our colleagues on that. Here comes my English Department
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in my elementary. Now, of course, we have the
debate of phonic, whole language, literature, et cetera, right?
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We're their...don't forget I serve 100 percent
free and reduced, 98 percent walking
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ELDs, ninety eight-percent. They are the school,
so don't tell me a subgroup. They're not a
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sub group. They are the school. Then they said,
well, if you have a balance of your fundamentals,
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which they love--the phonemic awareness, okay,
the fundamental--then the literature, great,
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and the information text, that's a good balance
and they felt that, hey, look, maybe that will
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provide the multiple paths for our students
who are low-income, English learners to be
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able to kind of weigh in on all three fronts. Now
here comes my math teachers. Don't forget there's
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the algebra issue at my school, okay, like any
schools. Granted, they said there is a good
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balance between procedures, you know. Teachers
do think of procedures--inner city school...procedures...
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You add. You subtract. You do this, you do...all
the procedures, but do the kids really understand,
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right, how do you balance understanding and
procedures, and this set of standards do balance
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that understanding and procedures, you know.
You bring down the one. You subtract that. You
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know the long division stuff...common denominator...
Now the over stuffing algebra in 8th
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grade...Oh my gosh. Used to be the high school
teacher would say, the middle school did not prepare
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my kids, and the middle school would say the
elementary...right...elementary would go the preschool,
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right, and a preschool would point to the parents
and parents point to who, God, I do not know
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what they are going to do, but as they look
at it, and very clearly this is different.
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Before we have very little learning opportunity
for the kids on fractions in elementary. Now
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my third grade teacher walked up and said,
oh my gosh. We are going to teach fraction,
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equivalence, and ordering. What a refreshing
idea because they have to go and learn it
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themselves many of them, and then the middle
schools said, wow you know if starting in 3rd grade
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we do these fractions stuff, by 7th and 8th grade
there's no reason that my school, thought it's
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hard, quite difficult at this point--50 percent
passed the algebra proficiency, 28 percent
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algebra II. It's a struggle. We start with 8
percent only three years ago, so I really stand
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by algebra, definitely, but this provides even
an algebra plus type of situation and added
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the geometry, so with that let me just say
that I'm not as good as Mike Hanson...Where are
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you, Mike? Okay, you got 600 kids up there. I
don't. But anyway, we're getting close, so now I
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will say, in a leap of faith to my colleagues,
that I urge you to adopt this CCR or your
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Common Core Standards and I trust that this
Board, along with CDE and Sue Stickle and everybody
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else, that you will very cautiously and strategically
complete an implementation plan that will
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take into account of the ELDs, that you take into
account students with disabilities, that we'll
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network with all the other states. I believe, Ruth,
there are 48 states states sign on, not 38, 48, except
Alaska and Texas,
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I think...Well, whatever it is...Great, even Puerto Rico
is in. What is California thinking, okay, alright,
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so, really that's the faith in that. Meanwhile, as a Board
member, I have to stay, I trust myself at the and we have
to do that.
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I trust that I along with all of you have
the knowledge, skills, and experience and know
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what are some potential pitfalls, that we trust
that we can create this new implementation
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plan, that we'll make it work. So the fortune
cookies, I can write it, and I hope you all
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will support it and thank you. Mitchell: Alan and
then David, please. Board Member Arkatov: Mr. President,
I'd like to make a motion,
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but just a comment before the motion. I want
to again commend--I know we've done over and
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over--but there's a reason that we're commending
Greg and Sue and the Commission for their
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truly outstanding efforts, and I want to echo
what Greg said. Substance and adequacy of the
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implementation will be the key. Plans don't
implement themselves, people do, and to those
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that have led the way thus far, I applaud you
and I certainly hope we'll be able to work
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with them on the implementation plan. I think
it's important...and again, I'd like to take
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full credit for this thought but again it's
the wonderful work that Greg and Sue and the
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folks who put together in this document. There's
something that is not covered by the standards,
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or I should say, there's a lot of stuff that
is not covered by the standards, and I'm quoting
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from some of the words in here, but the standards
should be recognized for what they are not
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as well as what they are, recognized for what
they are not as well as what they are for.
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The standards define what all students are expected
to know and be able to do, not how teachers
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should teach, and the standards make references
to some particular forms of content. Indeed,
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they cannot enumerate all or even most the
content that students should learn. The standards
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must, therefore, be complemented by a well-developed,
content rich curriculum consistent with the
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expectations laid out. While the standards
focus on what is most essential, they do not
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describe all that should be taught. A great
deal is left to the discretion of the teachers and
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the curriculum developers, and as we're hearing
time and time again, this is an open-ended
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question and answer. The aim of the standards
is to articulate the fundamentals, not just
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set out an exhaustive list or set of restrictions
that limits what can be taught beyond
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what is specified. The standards set grade-
specific standards but do not define the intervention
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methods or materials necessary to support
students who are well below...well below grade
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level expectations. No set of grade specific
standards can fully reflect the great varieties of
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abilities, needs, learning rates, and achievement
levels of the students in any given classroom.
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However, the standards do provide clear signposts
along the way for the goal of college and career readiness,
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and again, I want to talk about the comprehensiveness,
and if you can indulge me just for a minute,
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because again, the words are here and if anybody
hasn't taken the time to go through the
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thousands of pages, both on the national level
and here in California, I suggest that you
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do. It is beyond the scope of the standards
to define the full range of supports appropriate
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for ELL learners which I know...it has been raised
here today. At the same time, all students must
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have the opportunity to learn and meet the
same high standards if they're to have access to the
knowledge
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and skills necessary in their post-high school
lives. Likewise, the standards should be read
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as a line for the widest possible range of
students to participate fully, from the outset,
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as permitting appropriate accommodations to
ensure maximum participation for students with special
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education needs. Here again, technology will
have a profound impact in the future, and in
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every area that the Commission touched and
that we are looking at, technology that will be
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changing the framework and the implementation
abilities in ways that we can't even imagine.
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So while the ELA and math standards being proposed
are critical to college and career readiness,
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they do not define the whole of such readiness.
Students require a wide-ranging, rigorous academic
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preparation and, particularly in the early
grades, attention to such matters as social, emotional,
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and physical development in approaches to learning--
and I say that again because there is so much...
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There's the movie, I think it was, in Amadeus
where they said too many notes...there can never
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be too many notes, but these standards propose
in the ELA and math stands, are a remarkable
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starting point and the implementation plan
will be everything and so I'd like to make a
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motion that pursuant to Senate Bill 51, I move
that the California State Board of Education
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hereby adopt the academic content standards
as proposed by the Academic Content Standards
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Commission in English language arts and mathematics.
These standards include the Common Core and
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specific additional standards the Commission
has deemed necessary to maintain the integrity
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and rigor of California's already very, very high
standards. Board Member Lopez: I'll second that motion.
I'd like
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to make a comment. First of all, like my colleagues,
I'd like to thank the Commission, Greg, and
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Sue Stickeler. Stickel? Mitchell: She is a stickler.
That's a part of the legend. Lopez: ...and to you also,
Ted, for reminding
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us what our task is here today and our charge
and I think it's important that we focus on
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the Common Core Standards, but I also hear
from our colleagues that the standards, as
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Greg stated, is only the beginning. It's kind
of the destination that we want all our kids
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to be at, but the road there is very important
and I'm hearing from our colleagues that we
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need to be very diligent, very vigilant, and
mindful of the process of getting us there.
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Therefore, the implementation plan is critical,
and I've heard that many times here this morning,
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so I think again...I think we have to be vigilant
and mindful of that process. I'd also like
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to make a comment about the English language
learners. I know that that's been an issue.
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I was glad to hear that Sue Stickel mentioned
that the Commission was sensitive to the English
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language learner issue in the state and, as
we all know, 47 percent of kids go home
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speaking a language other than English. 41
percent of our kids in kindergarten are English
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language learners, so there's a lot of students
that are coming up in those grades and we
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need to prepare them, so I think that we need
to really work closely and diligently as we
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move these standards forward. There's one thing
I'd like to suggest, in that there were a lot
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of comments made about English language learners.
We do have an English Language Advisory Committee
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and I'd like to volunteer that we use that
committee very diligently and strategically
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to help us think this process through in order
to address the serious challenges that we
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have in this state in regards to educating
English language learners because I'm of the
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firm conviction that if we don't get that
right, we are not going to have our future
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workforce, not only for California but for
the nation, so just as a thought I'd like to
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add that in as a commentary. Mitchell: Thanks for
volunteering. That's good. I know that there are
other board
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members who have comments that they'd like
to make before we proceed to a vote. Ben...
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Board Member Austin: Thank you, President Mitchell.
I'll be brief both because I have colleagues on the
board and leaders
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in this room who are far more knowledgeable
than I am about this issue, but I did want
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to make a few quick comments. I first want
to thank the commissioners for their wonderful
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work, but I also want to thank...I don't think
we've acknowledged the leadership of President
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Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan for seizing
this moment and getting us to where we are
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today with regards to Common Core Standards
and a whole host of other innovative, groundbreaking
385
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reforms that have occurred throughout this
state and this nation, so as I was thinking
386
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about this vote and thinking about the consequential
and even historic nature of it, I was trying
387
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to bring a different perspective to it, which
is the perspective of a dad. I have two very young
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daughters neither of whom slept very well
last night, who are both going to be...one is
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00:41:20,140 --> 00:41:27,140
11 months old...Eloise is 11 months and the other
is 4 and these standards are going to impact
their entire
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academic life in the State of California, and
so as I was thinking about this vote, a vote
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for the status quo or for the Common Core
Standards. I was trying to really think about
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this in terms of what was better for them
and what was better for the rest of the children
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in California, and as I continue to drill down
on it, there's been a lot of talk and a lot of
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a dialogue about whether these standards are
higher or lower than the current standards
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that we have. The reason I'm going to vote
in favor of the Common Core Standards and
396
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proudly vote in favor of the Common Core Standards
is that I believe they are smarter than the
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00:42:11,049 --> 00:42:17,700
standards that we currently have and I think
it's just because we all know a lot more about
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how kids learn as well as about what types
of skills students are going to need to enter
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00:42:24,390 --> 00:42:29,750
a 21st century economy. We know a lot more
now than we did over a decade ago about those
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issues. In terms of how kids learn, I think
it...everybody has said this more eloquently than
401
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:43,140
I can, but I mean it does seem to me that building
organically upon ideas and concepts so that
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kids are actually learning deep knowledge
of concepts rather than just memorizing answers
403
00:42:49,390 --> 00:42:56,390
is the best way for us to prepare kids to
be critical thinkers. I also think that there's
404
00:42:56,730 --> 00:43:03,109
been a lot of interesting back and forth about
the English language arts standards and about
405
00:43:03,109 --> 00:43:10,109
the addition of an emphasis on nonfiction
study and thinking, and I thought about that
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00:43:11,450 --> 00:43:15,990
a lot because I'm actually...I am the son of
two writers. My dad was a novelist. My mom is
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00:43:15,990 --> 00:43:22,990
a children's book writer, and so I grew up
in a home with a deep appreciation for literature
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00:43:23,210 --> 00:43:30,210
and words and writing and it's very important
to me personally, and I think that the Common
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00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:40,369
Core Standards still embrace that, and it's
critical. Every child in California has to
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00:43:40,369 --> 00:43:47,369
grow up and graduate with a knowledge of art
and literature, but I also think it's very
411
00:43:47,710 --> 00:43:53,839
important that we acknowledge that our kids
today are going to grow up and graduate into
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00:43:53,839 --> 00:43:59,930
an economy that is wildly different than anything
we have ever seen before, an economy that is
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00:43:59,930 --> 00:44:06,819
dominated by information, and the students
that succeed in that economy are going to
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00:44:06,819 --> 00:44:12,510
be the students that graduate with the skills
and the tools to critically integrate and
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00:44:12,510 --> 00:44:18,680
critically analyze that information and to
do it quickly and to do it intelligently, and
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00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:25,099
I think that these standards are an important
step forward in terms of preparing our students
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00:44:25,099 --> 00:44:32,099
for that economy. I do believe that there are
many other factors that are currently contributing
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00:44:35,130 --> 00:44:42,130
to the problematic, to say the least, problematic
status quo for children in California, but it's
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00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:50,200
also true that even if we turn around and
transform every single failing school in California,
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00:44:51,309 --> 00:44:55,059
but those schools are teaching kids to the
wrong standards, we will not have done our
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00:44:55,059 --> 00:45:01,900
job, so this is a critical vote and a historic
vote. I'm honored to vote yes because I believe
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00:45:01,900 --> 00:45:07,470
it's good for my two daughters, Fiona and Eloise,
and I believe these standards are good for all the
children
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00:45:07,470 --> 00:45:14,230
of California. Thank you. Mitchell: Thank you, Ben.
Greg...Board Member Jones: Thank you. I too will try
to be brief. I
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00:45:14,230 --> 00:45:20,789
try to come with this also from a couple of
different perspectives. People who have a lot
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00:45:20,789 --> 00:45:26,410
more knowledge than I know about the intricacies
there is, but you know as I looked at it, I tried
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00:45:26,410 --> 00:45:33,410
to look at it as, you know, my role as a business
leader in the state, and clearly I think that
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00:45:34,619 --> 00:45:41,619
these Common Core Standards do have the ability
to help us strengthen are competitiveness
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00:45:41,970 --> 00:45:47,900
worldwide, particularly if they are benchmarked
against the best that we have in this country
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00:45:47,900 --> 00:45:54,900
and benchmarked internationally as well, because
unquestionably, you know, as we continue...we
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00:45:56,010 --> 00:46:03,010
will need to have today's students, who will
be tomorrow's workforce, have the computational,
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00:46:04,140 --> 00:46:10,809
analytical communications skills that we can
measure consistently around the country, and
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00:46:10,809 --> 00:46:17,809
I think that is of great value to us in the
business community and will ready young people
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00:46:18,289 --> 00:46:25,289
for their next destination, so I think that,
for me, it has become an important piece
434
00:46:25,599 --> 00:46:32,020
of this. I too, though you know, kind of like
Ben, if I look at this from, you know...If I try
435
00:46:32,020 --> 00:46:39,020
to look at this from another perspective...more of a
personal perspective and my own experience, I think
helped me understand
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00:46:39,339 --> 00:46:46,339
the value of this a little bit more because
of job transfers and my corporate career, our
437
00:46:49,260 --> 00:46:56,260
two sons attended schools in six different
states as we moved around the country, and
438
00:46:57,170 --> 00:47:04,170
I witnessed firsthand the dramatic differences
in rigor and quality of standards and expectations
439
00:47:05,740 --> 00:47:12,740
that both schools and teachers have for my kids
to meet them as they're in these various places, and so
440
00:47:14,460 --> 00:47:21,460
as parents my wife and I am made it our business
to make sure that our kids were learning...
441
00:47:23,599 --> 00:47:26,549
or whatever they were learning and
wherever they were learning in these
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00:47:26,549 --> 00:47:33,549
various schools and various states, that they
have the quality and the caliber of rigor
443
00:47:34,140 --> 00:47:41,140
that assured that they were being adequately
prepared to succeed in college, and I guess,
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00:47:42,589 --> 00:47:49,589
you know, I feel that they were lucky. Just
like probably your kids, the people in this
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00:47:49,710 --> 00:47:56,710
room are pretty lucky because you know they
have parents who took it upon themselves to
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00:47:57,829 --> 00:48:04,829
intervene and advocate on their behalf and
you know my point in that is that expectations
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00:48:08,220 --> 00:48:15,220
for excellence shouldn't depend on luck. They
shouldn't depend on luck or where you live
448
00:48:15,950 --> 00:48:21,940
or who your parents are or what your economic
status is because as all of us in this room
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00:48:21,940 --> 00:48:28,940
know, many of our nation's kids are not as
fortunate as our kids in this room, and so
450
00:48:30,549 --> 00:48:35,730
you know, I think that has become a valuable
lesson to me, you know, as I've been sort of
451
00:48:35,730 --> 00:48:41,380
thinking about this. You know, I always kind
of defer to, and some of these people in
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00:48:41,380 --> 00:48:45,839
this room have heard me do this before, but
I always refer to the great lessons that
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00:48:45,839 --> 00:48:52,839
I learned from my grandmother. My grandmother
was unusually a college educated woman as
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00:48:53,970 --> 00:49:00,970
her father, my great-grandfather, was a university
president, and she put in our bedroom my brother
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00:49:01,240 --> 00:49:06,349
and I, from the time I was a little kid, a little
plaque that we saw every day, that's said
456
00:49:06,349 --> 00:49:12,319
no one rises to low expectations, and
I saw that every single day of my life, and
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00:49:12,319 --> 00:49:19,319
so I guess I just say all that to say, you
know, from where I sit, I'm going to say hallelujah
because I
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think, you know, at last high expectations for
all kids, no matter their ethnicity, no matter
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00:49:30,099 --> 00:49:37,099
where they live, no matter their language, can and
should become a reality, and so Common Core
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00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:48,000
Standards, I think from my perspective, can
assure that every child at least has an equal
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00:49:49,029 --> 00:49:56,029
opportunity to reach their full potential,
so I am anxiously looking forward to voting
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00:49:57,420 --> 00:50:04,420
yes on common core. Micthell: Thank you, Greg.
Excellent. Jonathan...Board Member Williams: And
I'll dovetail on member Jones' hallelujah and
463
00:50:07,579 --> 00:50:12,849
try and secure my place in heaven and try
and be brief to the extent that I am able
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to. For one, I want to thank everyone who worked
so hard on these standards. They are amazing.
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The only...the only statement that I'll make
is one around the equity issue. We know that
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we have issues with certain populations and
I'll echo Superintendent Deasy's comments with
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00:50:38,990 --> 00:50:45,990
regard to making sure that we're monitoring
how algebra continues. It sounds like there's
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room for alignment with the eighth grade goal
and in our history as a policy-making body, as it
relates to 8th
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00:50:55,970 --> 00:51:02,970
grade, and it also sounds like plenty of room for
alignment with our English language learners
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00:51:04,630 --> 00:51:11,630
as well, so with that I will strongly support.
Mitchell: Thank you. Jim...Board Member Aschwanden:
Thank you for all the people who
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00:51:14,390 --> 00:51:18,940
worked so hard. Thank you for the sentiments
expressed around the room. No call for the
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00:51:18,940 --> 00:51:25,940
question. Mitchell: I do. I do. It does give me a chance
though to say, me too, and stop. Legal Counsel Botellino:
Excuse me. Hi, I'm Angela
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00:51:32,140 --> 00:51:37,440
Botellino, Interim Chief Counsel for the
State Board of Education, and before you proceed
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00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:42,990
to the vote, I'd like to offer a friendly amendment.
I believe the reference was to Senate Bill
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00:51:42,990 --> 00:51:49,990
51, correct? Do want to correct that? Mitchell: So the
reference should be to Senate Bill 51X, Lopez: So... I...
Botellino: It's Senate Bill...Okay, it can be
Senate Bill 1
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00:51:59,450 --> 00:52:06,450
or more specifically Senate bill X51. Mitchell: Shows
you dyslexia with which I have struggled...
477
00:52:08,250 --> 00:52:15,250
Arkatov: The motion...Pursuant to Senate Bill X51, I move
that the California State Board of Education
478
00:52:15,630 --> 00:52:20,529
hereby adopt the academic content standards
as proposed by the academic content standards
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00:52:20,529 --> 00:52:24,559
commission in English language arts and mathematics.
These standards include the Common Core and
480
00:52:24,559 --> 00:52:29,260
specific additional standards the Commission
has deemed necessary to maintain the integrity
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00:52:29,260 --> 00:52:34,859
and rigor of California's already extremely
high standards. Mitchell: Motion's been made by Mr.
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00:52:34,859 --> 00:52:39,180
Arkatov and seconded by Mr. Lopez. The question
has been called by Mr. Aschwandan. All those
483
00:52:39,180 --> 00:52:46,010
in favor, please signify by raising your hand.
Thank you. The vote is unanimous. Members, this
484
00:52:46,010 --> 00:52:53,010
is a historic moment
for the state of California, more importantly
for the children of California, for Ben's kids,
485
00:53:00,069 --> 00:53:07,069
my kids, all of our kids, this will matter.
I'd like to make the following statements
486
00:53:08,010 --> 00:53:13,480
with relation to the work and many of the comments
that have been made that I think will help
487
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:20,480
steer us into the next phase into this implementation.
You're looking puzzled. Okay...that I think will
488
00:53:20,510 --> 00:53:26,880
help move us now into implementation. So first,
this...this is, as many of us have said throughout
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00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:32,329
our discussions today, the beginning of a process
and not the end of one and therefore on behalf
490
00:53:32,329 --> 00:53:39,230
of the Board I'd like to direct CDE and Board
staff to create an implementation plan as
491
00:53:39,230 --> 00:53:44,760
defined in the legislation and to work with
the Legislature to launch a curriculum development
492
00:53:44,760 --> 00:53:49,770
process that can begin to operationalize these
standards. In the course of that work, we hope
493
00:53:49,770 --> 00:53:54,599
that the framers will take into account the
comments made today regarding the shaping
494
00:53:54,599 --> 00:53:58,890
of curricula and individual courses from the
collection of standard elements that we've
495
00:53:58,890 --> 00:54:05,890
adopted today. Second I'd also like to direct
the staff of the Academic Standards Commission,
496
00:54:07,160 --> 00:54:14,160
that mighty staff of 21, to proceed with technical
cleanup of the draft report we have before
497
00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:20,990
us. We've discussed today and elsewhere several
inconsistencies that reflect nothing more
498
00:54:20,990 --> 00:54:25,289
than the time pressure that the Commission
was under and we'd appreciate their continuing
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00:54:25,289 --> 00:54:31,950
work to resolve those and clarify those. Further,
we hope that the curriculum Commission, in
500
00:54:31,950 --> 00:54:38,059
the framework committees, or whatever the apparatus
is, but the implementation organizations that...
501
00:54:38,059 --> 00:54:44,539
the flow from this will give consideration
to the commentary from the Academic Content
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00:54:44,539 --> 00:54:50,269
Standards Commission, which is separate from
the standards we've adopted today but important
503
00:54:50,269 --> 00:54:55,809
in understanding the Commission's thinking.
I would especially commend to them and to
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00:54:55,809 --> 00:55:00,500
members of this board the statements of the
Commission regarding English language learners
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and students with disabilities and finally,
I want once again to thank the members of
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the Academic Content Standards Commission,
its Chair, Greg Geeting and its Project Director,
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00:55:13,650 --> 00:55:20,619
Sue Stickel, for their extraordinary work on
behalf of California and its children. Thanks
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00:55:20,619 --> 00:55:26,730
to you, California remains a beacon to the
nation and a leader in the movement to establish
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00:55:26,730 --> 00:55:33,730
high standards and importantly high outcomes
for all of our children. Thanks. We'll take
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a five-minute break and then the board will
go into closed session.