Community Magazine July 2014

50 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE T heprogramofmodifiedcourse requirements, dubbedCommon Core, should serve as a wakeup call for some yeshivahs that may not be prepared for the statewide curriculum change. But experts also fear that students in need of specialized learning assistance will have an uphill battle just to keep up. One concerned educator says that now there is even more at stake for young people who are having a hard time in school. “I believe that there is a real need to let people know about the changes that are coming down the pike, and more importantly, what the Common Core Standards can mean in the lives of teenagers who struggle academically,” said Meryl Silver, Project Coordinator at Teach NYS, an organization supported by the OU and the Sephardic Community Federation. As the State’s educational transformation begins to unfold, she says, these students could find themselves unable to graduate. And it is nothing short of a train wreck waiting to happen. “New York State is going to expect our struggling students to pass exams that are very different from what we are all used to,” says Silver, who holds a Master’s degree in special education and has 15 years of professional experiences in yeshivahs and Jewish Day Schools. “This situation is problematic in and of itself, but in light of the Common Core implementation, what we have is a potential disaster. If students cannot meet this challenge, they will be unable to obtain a local diploma and they will not gain entry to community college programs. Please do not let this happen to the struggling high school student you love.” Bracing for “Common Core” For the uninitiated, the newly unveiled Common Core Learning Standard (CCLS) has already been embraced by 45 states, including New York. Its purpose, say advocates, is to standardize the learning from pre-Kindergarten through high school in order DAVE GORDON High School Diploma Just Got Harder to Earn It’s not as if your teenager didn’t already have his hands full this Fall facing mountains of homework, tests, exams and essays. But now it just got a little tougher to earn a high school diploma, thanks to a shift in standards in New York. Your Child’s