READERS' FORUM: July 19, 2012

Opinion

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July 19, 2012

READERS' FORUM: July 19, 2012

Anonymous ---- The Tribune Star Thu Jul 19, 2012, 05:00 AM EDT

Common Core will improve readiness

I recently read the commentary “Common standards best for students” about the importance of the Common Core State Standards and am extremely appreciative that the IDOE has made a move to clear up some misconceptions.

As an educator at George Washington Community High School in Indianapolis, I believe that the Common Core will prepare my students to be more college- and career-ready when they graduate from high school.

With the new standards, I will maintain the flexibility to use strategies that work best for my students. But the significance of the Common Core is that they will make Indiana students more globally competitive.

The biggest difference between the Common Core and Indiana’s standards is that the Common Core State Standards offer educators a new teaching mindset. Nowhere in Indiana’s standards, for example, is there an explanation for how to determine the level of text that should be read in each grade. Research shows us that currently, we are preparing our students to read at a level that is nearly a year and a half behind where they need to be when entering college or the workplace.

Because the Common Core and supporting research better inform me about what needs to be done to address this issue, I can be more confident that my ninth- and 10th-graders will leave my classroom on the path to real-world preparedness. With the Common Core, Indiana students will no longer be behind. They will be college- and career-ready.

The problem with new ideas like the Common Core is that they are complex and can easily be misunderstood when simplified into talking points. As policymakers debate standards and Indiana citizens read about the Common Core, I hope they take the time to truly understand what is being discussed.

Helpful fact sheets can be found on the resource page at www.stand.org and the Indiana Department of Education’s Common Core website at www.doe.in.gov/commoncore.

— Ashley Hebda

Indianapolis

Great memories of the Saratoga

I saw in your paper where the Saratoga is celebrating their 70th anniversary.

This brings back pleasant memories. When I was 8 years old in 1942, I used to go to the Saratoga to visit my grandmother, great-grandmother and my two great-aunts — they were all cooks. My grandmother was the dinner cook, my great-grandmother baked the pies, cakes, and rolls, my great-aunt made the salads, short orders. My other great-aunt was the waitress.

Joe, Abe and A.C. Malooley were such nice men. When I was 15 or 16 I baby-sat a few times for Sod and Betty Azar (I lived next door) with George, Ray and Christine.

Years later, when my grandmother was 80 years, I came out of retirement and worked for Katie and George.

— Joan (Bolin) Doan

Terre Haute

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