SDOC ready to implement more of the Common Core

Throughout the state of South Carolina, teachers are actively preparing for another school year.  In the School District of Oconee County, students return to the classroom on August 20.  Therefore, teachers and administrators will use the remaining time this summer preparing to implement more of the Common Core of State Standards.  Oconee County Schools Assistant Superintendent Steve Hanvey explains. “We are going to continue our implementation of the Common Core of State Standards and having our students college and career ready.  That has been our focus, it really started a year and a half ago and then this past school year we were fully implemented in kindergarten through second grade.  The majority of grades 3-5 did the same thing and the middle and high schools implemented units when they could and now we are making the full transition over to prepare for the change in testing that will happen in the 2014-15 school year.  We are continuing to train our teachers on that and work on that and making those shifts that the Common Core has lead us to, like with the informational texts, writing and those kind of things.  We need to make sure that teachers are adequately prepared to deliver what they need to for our students to be successful.” The Common Core will standardize education throughout the Palmetto State, while at the same time still giving teachers flexibility, adds Hanvey. “They will be taught the same thing but the teachers still have the flexibility to deliver the instruction the way that they feel works best for them and their students because that to me is the important part.  The Common Core gives us that common ground and everybody knows what the expectation is but I feel like the teachers still have that flexibility.  You are not going to walk into a school and go down a hallway of all fifth grade teachers and see everybody doing the exact same thing, that is not what we want and that is not what the common Core is supposed to be about.” Hanvey feels the Common Core of State Standards will be beneficial for students in the School District of Oconee County. “It is what we need with the rigor, what kids are going to be doing in the future and what the expectations will be as they get prepared fro college and career readiness, I think this is the best way to give them the best chance to be successful.”  The South Carolina Department of Education releases PASS and HSAP test scores on August 1, giving teachers time to adjust instruction for improvement.