In 2013 over fifty AMI professionals – teachers, trainers, consultants, administrators – came together under the sponsorship of AMI/USA and AMI-EAA to create a mapping of a representative AMI elementary curriculum onto the Common Core State Standards. The product of this effort has undergone multiple levels of review, including two levels of team review, senior elementary trainers, and AMI’s Scientific Pedagogy Group. Users of this mapping can be assured that it maintains an authentic AMI focus and seeks to uphold AMI standards.
Let’s start with two general facts about the Common Core:
1. The Common Core State Standards define baseline expectations for each grade level in English Language Arts and Mathematics, for publicly-funded schools.
2. Forty-five states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards. Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia are the only states that have yet to adopt the Common Core.
For serious education reformers, the “How” question necessitates a closer examination of existing educational pedagogies. In this shifting landscape, the Common Core has created an opportunity for Montessori to truly shine and influence the education reform decisions that will impact our children for decades to come. Therefore, regardless of individual affiliations and nuanced classroom methods, the “How” question should unite and galvanize Montessori advocates from every corner of the country and around the globe.
The standards stress not only procedural skill but also conceptual understanding, to make sure students are learning and absorbing the critical information they need to succeed at higher levels – rather than the current practices by which many students learn enough to get by on the next test, but forget it shortly thereafter, only to review again the following year.
IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES
Responsibility – A Gentle Reminder – an implementation white paper by AMI elementary trainer Phyllis Pottish-Lewis.