/ Modified mar 7, 2015 10:16 a.m.

AZ WEEK: Common Core Standards Hit Classrooms

How one teacher uses the new curriculum approach to stimulate her high school freshmen.

Even as the Common Core standards continue to be debated in the Arizona Legislature, teachers have started to implement changes in their classrooms. Arizona Week visits one freshman class in Tucson's Sunnyside Unified School District to see how the new standards change the way classic literature is taught.

Highlights:

Disagreement welcome. “Kids like to debate,” Callahan said. “They like to argue. So, yeah, it creates a little bit of life in the classroom, more excitement and for them to know there might be more than one right answer.”

Classic literature lessons get a makeover. Students in Callahan’s class start their unit on To Kill a Mockingbird with an investigation of the era in which it was published. “We gave them a bunch of topics that they could explore– Black Panther (Party), Malcom X, Dr. King.”

Lessons that go beyond the classroom. “We’re building skills that are going to help you get what you want and do it in a respectable and thoughtful way and hopefully create a positive citizenship in this community,” Callahan said.

There is no one right answer. “Common Core opens up not only how they see the world, but acknowledging different perspectives, multiple choice doesn’t do that,” Callahan said. “Everything just stops at one correct answer and that’s not life.”

Also on the show:

  • Ted Simons, from Phoenix sister station KAET, illustrates the ongoing debate about the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards.

  • David Higuera, Southern Arizona director for the Children’s Action Alliance, discusses how budget cuts could change services the organization can provide.

  • Arizona Public Media Reporter Christopher Conover breaks down the proposed cuts to education in the state budget.

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