NJCCCS Handout

Critique of the New Jersey Language Arts Literacy Core Curriculum Content Standards

Overview
• To prepare students of all grade levels to effectively use the different branches of language in the educational process and everyday life.

• The Language Arts Literacy Standards are broken into five strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Viewing and Media Literacy

• The student’s ability to show understanding in each of the branches is essential to the completion of each grade.

• Students are expected to demonstrate understanding through a number of different activities and procedures.

• Students use critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity to grow intellectually, emotionally, and socially

• The five strands to build upon each other and supplement each other’s purpose

• Language Arts Literacy Standards are used as a guide for teachers to prepare students for a lifetime of effective and successful communication with others.

Skills, Knowledge, and Dispositions
• Critical thinking
• Problem solving
• Creativity
• Five Strands – Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Viewing and Media Literacy
• Comprehension

Assessments
• Portfolios
• Rubrics/criteria
• Presentations
• Written forms (eg. Research paper)
• Questions and answers

***While the New Jersey Language Arts Literacy Core Curriculum Content Standards gives various assessments, they do not provide sample rubrics, presentations, or writing topics.

STRENGTHS
• Guideline of what to teach- outlines the important ideas
• Makes sure that school systems across the state are learning the same important ideas
• Gives specific learning expectation
• Easy format to follow
• Includes updated standards (complies with current technology)
• Standards are revisited and revised every four years with input from Language Arts Literacy Teachers.
• Clearly focused on 5 areas that make up the heart of what Language Arts Literacy teachers teach: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Viewing.
• Poses Essential Questions that teachers can utilize to address the five strands
• The cumulative progress indicators show when and how students need to be able to move forward in accomplishing new levels of each standard

WEAKNESSES
• Limited explanation of assessments
• Uses vague words (e.g. creativity)
• Doesn’t explain or define key skills (e.g. critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity)
• Although it represents key content to be taught, it does not allow teachers to think outside of the box and it limits the way the material is presented
• Requires a range of skills (five strands) that must be taught simultaneously
• Very lengthy (teachers do not have the time to read all aspects of the standards)
• Students across the state are not held uniformly accountable for achieving the standards
• Standardized tests are not as rigorous as the standards, and therefore do not accurately measure student achievement in Language Arts Literacy
• Teachers are able to over emphasize or under emphasize elements in the standards.

REFERENCES

Splitter, Laurance J. (1991) Critical thinking: What, why, when and how. Educational Philosophy and Theory 23.1. 89-109.

Adams, Dennis M. and Mary E. Hamm. Cooperative Learning: Critical Thinking and Collaboration Across the Curriculum Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, 1990.

Paul, Richard & Elder, Linda (1999). Critical Thinking: Teaching Students to Seek the Logic of Things. Journal of Developmental Education, 23(1) pp. 34

href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&an=8525674&site=ehost-live">Taking Language Arts to the Community.

href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&an=8524879&site=ehost-live">What Schools Should Teach in the English Language Arts.

ALSO: For a list of essential questions for all content areas: http://www.state.nj.us/education/aps/njscp/