Do new standards promote big words instead of big ideas?

The new Common Core State Standards, which DC and most states have adopted, call for giving students reading assignments that are more complex. But is the Common Core directing educators to push students to read big words rather than to generate big ideas?

The Common Core’s definition of “complex text” hinges on a number of factors, including sentence length and unconventional structure. A local and national debate is brewing on how to satisfy the requirement while ensuring students at different levels can read and understand the material.

When I taught at a DC charter school, I found that many students could fluently read advanced text but were able to demonstrate only a limited conceptual understanding of what they had read. On the other hand, I led classes using text that would not be considered “complex,” but which nevertheless generated thoughtful conversations and questions, and ultimately a deep understanding of the topic.

Program has students read peers’ writing

One way to get students engaged in these kinds of discussions is to have them read essays written by their fellow students. In 2007, I moved away from teaching to expand a classroom writing project into a citywide program called One World Education (OWEd). The organization produces curriculum that leads students through the process of writing about cultural and global topics that are important to them. Students choose and research their topics and present an argument for a particular point of view.

OWEd then publishes some of these student essays on its website, along with comprehension questions and discussion topics based on them. This school year approximately 3,000 DCPS 9th- and 10th-grade students will participate in the essay-writing process, which fits in with the Common Core’s focus on “argumentative writing.”

Recently I told an education veteran that one of OWEd’s student-authored essays was receiving positive feedback from economics teachers. She replied that high school students should be reading complex text on the topic, like that written by Paul Krugman, a Nobel-prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist.

There’s no argument that Krugman’s columns qualify as complex text, and a high school student’s economic analysis won’t compare to his. And certainly many high school students can read the words Krugman uses. But that doesn’t mean they will understand what he’s saying, and students cannot write about what they do not understand.

Entry points to complex topics

Although the teacher and I agreed on some ideas, I insisted that there are smarter entry points to the complicated topic of economics than an expert’s op ed. OWEd can provide one such entry.

Students are more likely to identify with their fellow students and relate to their writing, making it possible for them to gain a deeper understanding of important topics by reading research-based essays written by their peers. One educator has called the One World Student Library of essays the “perfect gateway” to maximize engagement, so students can then be led to more complex texts.

Teachers are understandably nervous about balancing the Common Core’s standards for complex text while striving to stimulate complex thought and critical thinking. But if I had to choose between adhering to a particular reading level and ensuring comprehension, I would pursue comprehension. This position may not earn me points from Common Core hardliners, but it will build our readers into thinkers—and thinkers are better equipped to understand more complex text.

One World Education also gives DC students the opportunity to produce writing that will serve as a reading and learning tool for other students. Although students will readily submit low-level writing to their teachers, we have documented that students pay more attention to their writing when they know their classmates will read it.

Is OWEd’s program the single answer to the struggling state of writing in DC Public Schools? Absolutely not. But it is a valuable part of new supports being offered to our teachers.

Yes, students need to practice reading complex texts because they will need to do that independently in college. But by relying on less-complex text at the outset, teachers will ensure that students develop a deeper understanding of content. This is what learning is about. And once students understand what they’re reading, chances are they’ll soon move on to understanding more sophisticated material.

A version of this post appeared on One World Education.