Illinois instructors aim to educate the public about the CCSS

Educators who have been trained to teach according to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) can help students take steps toward collegiate and professional success. However, there is only so much these instructors can do, seeing as how pupils do not spend all 24 hours of the day at school. This is why it helps for parents, business owners and other members of students' communities to have an understanding of the CCSS.

In Illinois, a priority of the Quincy Federation of Teachers is to educate the public about the Common Core, the Quincy Herald Whig reported. The Federation plans to achieve its goal through a variety of methods, including public service announcements and a new website, that is set to launch soon.

Federation officials are especially interested in educating day care providers, as CCSS-aligned activities could prepare pre-K children for kindergarten. For instance, educators will encourage those who work with preschool-age kids to introduce them to nonfiction.

"We're reaching out there because research will tell us that 50 percent of our 'achievement gap' walks through our doors when children enter school," Marilyn Smith, the Federation's Common Core project manager, told the news source. "In other words, if kids coming into school don't have the reading to, the singing to, or the playing with - those fundamentals - then we're already starting out behind."

There is no denying that kindergarteners will face more rigorous instruction under the CCSS than they have in the past. According to the Common Core's website, kindergarteners will be asked to answer questions about details in text, use digital tools to produce writing, provide visual details during discussions and so much more at different points during the school year.