Trinity Christian School and
the Common Core State Standards
“Trinity Christian School (TCS) is in the process of evaluating the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as they relate to our academic goals. While TCS is not required to wholly adopt the CCSS, we are carefully reviewing them, and will align with CCSS to the extent that our mission and Biblical worldview are not compromised. TCS is committed to adhering to best practices concerning curriculum and instruction, using the CCSS as an informational piece regarding the national and global educational context in which we are preparing our students.” ~ Official TCS Board Position, adopted June 2014
Common Core is a set of academic standards currently written for Language Arts and Mathematics. Standards for education are not new; schools have been aligning instruction to state standards for many years. What is new, and quite a shift from previous state standards, is the fact that Common Core standards are being adopted by many states across the nation. Some people feel this initiative is open to potential corruption from textbook publishers, corporate sponsors, educational interest groups, and government bureaucracies. The debate and controversy (much of it political in nature) is taking the focus off the intended purpose of education: student success.
The Common Core State Standards specify what students should be learning at each grade level in Language Arts and Math; Common Core is not a curriculum. Because TCS incorporates a Biblical Worldview into academics, TCS could not and should not adopt the Common Core as a single source for instructional standards. We would be remiss, however, if we did not consider them, along with other state of Connecticut standards. Our teachers need to know what is included in the Common Core standards and Connecticut’s academic content standards because our students need to remain informed and competitive in educational achievement as well as master 21st century technology skills.
As a private Christian school, we consider a large variety of resources when developing a scope and sequence for instruction and curriculum materials, and at the heart of all of those materials remains our most important resource, the Word of God. Academic rigor has always been part of TCS’ mission, and as we review the Common Core we are affirmed in our belief that in many areas our standards exceed those outlined in Common Core.
The Association of Christian Schools International, through which TCS is accredited, has created a position statement about Common Core. We encourage you to read this statement; it does a good job of offering a brief explanation of Common Core and some general comments about the ways Christian schools should consider these new standards. Click here for ACSI Common Core Curriculum Statement.