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Standards will put N.J. students on path to success

By Raymond Yannuzzi and Thomas Isekenegbe Let's take a moment to celebrate New Jersey's teachers. Over the past four years, our teachers have worked hard to implement New Jersey's rigorous new Common Core State Standards and prepare students for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), the new statewide assessment of th

By Raymond Yannuzzi and Thomas Isekenegbe

Let's take a moment to celebrate New Jersey's teachers.

Over the past four years, our teachers have worked hard to implement New Jersey's rigorous new Common Core State Standards and prepare students for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), the new statewide assessment of those skills rolling out this spring. The standards were adopted to help ensure students have a mastery of the skills needed to enter college or the workforce.

We have seen the difficulty students face when they aren't academically prepared to begin college-level work that requires reading, writing, or math. While New Jersey has the highest high school graduation rate in the country, 60 percent of recent high school graduates who attend community colleges throughout the state are placed into remedial courses in their first year, according to the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. This puts a financial burden on students and their families, ultimately making it difficult for them to graduate on time, if at all.

That is why members of the New Jersey Presidents' Council, leaders from the state's leading higher education institutions, unanimously voted to support the Common Core State Standards. We believe New Jersey's efforts to institute the Common Core will improve college readiness and help close the preparation gap for students. This long-term effort will increase students' knowledge and skills so they will graduate from high school ready for college and careers.

The Common Core provides a road map for teachers and districts to develop courses that cultivate the deep understanding required for college preparation. New instructional approaches, expectations, and assignments in reading, writing, and mathematics have put New Jersey in a position to transition successfully to the new system of standards and assessments. Faculty from the state's higher education institutions have participated and will continue to work on teams, along with faculty from school districts, to develop curricula, review student performance, and align standards with the levels consistent with success in college-level work.

K-12 teachers and college faculty will work together to ensure that the standards are appropriate and that the tests measure students' preparation for college and career success at each grade level. It is critical that students arrive at college better prepared for inquiry-based learning and collaborative problem-solving.

The link between K-12 and higher education starts with teacher preparation. As such, it is also important to note that New Jersey's colleges and universities have aligned teacher preparation programs and content with the Common Core standards. In addition, higher education is helping to provide professional development for K-12 teachers and administrators, and ongoing teacher support aligned to the Common Core standards.

We are pleased with the progress New Jersey has made to ensure a comprehensive, coordinated approach for supporting Common Core standards, and we look forward to the full implementation of the curriculum and assessments in the years ahead.

And while we take a moment to appreciate teachers, let's not forget what we can do to empower them. We, and all education, business, and political leaders in the state, owe it to our teachers and our kids to stay the course and support the Common Core standards and related assessments. Let's give students the chance to acquire the knowledge and skills they need for success.