Staying Creative with Common Core Standards

Schools are striving to be staying creative with Common Core standards, meeting curriculum goals while still stimulating strategic thinking.

Heavy reliance on texts that contain large amounts of information, such as science books is one challenge educators face with Common Core. By 12th grade, 70 percent of all texts must be non fiction. Teachers, scholars, and parents worry that the focus on informational reading of non fiction may make students less appreciative of literature, and less creative.

Seton Hall Professor Christopher Tienken is studying the topic, by comparing the new standards with the old.

“Part of the problem in looking for informational texts, which are generally more procedural than creative and strategic, is: The more you increase informational text, there’s a chance you can decrease strategic thinking,” Tienken said.

The challenge for teachers, said Tienken, is “integrating state-mandated standards in a way that keeps it creative.”