On the Community High School District 117 website resides a poll that asks “Do you agree with the higher student standards related to Common Core?” The results show that 83 percent of respondents say they disagree with Common Core. But what is Common Core?

Over the last two years, Illinois and 42 other states have adopted the Common Core State Standards. These standards create a uniform curriculum in English language arts and mathematics.

Math teacher Andrew Benton said that Common Core is a “different way of thinking… the whole idea of Common Core is that you use examples and real life context.”

Back in 2010 when states were given grant money to help funding. States were required to adopt Common Core even though it had not been finalized yet. Now the nation is seeing dramatic changes in curriculum within schools, and the teachers are having to embrace the new standards.

Some students, mostly the freshen and sophomores have seen the changes in curriculum especially in math, but juniors are expected to see Common Core with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test, also known as the PARCC test.

English Teacher Kelly Taylor said, “what is changing most is the type of questions and what we’re being asked to do with our material.”

Benton said that in the math department, “math is going to change dramatically.”

He explained that inside of the new math classes will be a mix of algebra, geometry and some statistics. Overall, the math department believes they will have the most significant changes.

All of these changes are having the effect of creating a uniform education throughout the K-12 journey all across the country.

So what is Common Core doing for you? Its helping you get ready for life.