Implementing the Common Core State Standards will be challenging–but not impossible–according to experts speaking in New York this week at the Education Nation summit, part of an NBC News initiative, U.S. News reports. The new standards, adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia [1], require English and math lessons to go more in-depth [2] to teach students critical thinking and analytical skills, in order to develop students who are more prepared to succeed in college and the workplace [3]. During an informal survey at a discussion panel on Monday, 92 percent of those attending said they thought rolling out the new standards would be either difficult or very difficult.
“It’s going to change what we teach, … how we teach and what materials we use to teach, … how we decide who’s ready to graduate from high school [4] and … who gets into college, and how we prepare teachers,” said Chester Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit, education policy think tank. “It’s a very heavy lift, and it’s well worth lifting.”