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The Connecticut Common Core of Learning ReflectionBeth SkudzienskiDr. Zack Social and Multicultural Foundations of EducationUniversity of ConnecticutWest Hartford, CT

Beth SkudzienskiCore Values ReflectionDr. Zack 6/16/2009The state of Connecticut has developed a document that summarizes the state’sexpectations of what teaching should look like and how it should take place in the state of Connecticut. The Connecticut Common Core of Teaching gives teaching expectations for instructors in the state of Connecticut. This document discusses the skills, knowledge andvarious competencies expected of teachers in various stages of instructional ability,including the pre-service, induction and continuous professional growth phases. TheCommon Core of Teaching discusses skills important for all teachers to possess and alsogives practices teachers should possess based on their content area. Content areas in theCommon Core of Teaching include, elementary education, english language arts,mathematics, music, physical education, science, social studies, special education, visualarts and world languages. It includes a list of content specific skills and competencies thatinstructors in those content areas should be proficient in. In the following paragraphs,this author will discuss three specific statements or skills found in the special educationsection of the Connecticut Common Core of Teaching and will express why thosestatements or beliefs are important for the instructor of students in special education.The Common Core of Teaching states it is important for teachers of students withspecial needs to be aware of the various disabilities and the impact those disabilities havewithin the classroom and learning for students. This is foundational for all specialeducation teachers to understand. If a teacher does not have an understanding of astudents’ individual disability, they will not understand why the student may be strugglingwith learning or with a specific section of a curriculum. This will greatly hinder thespecial education teacher’s assistance of a student. The special education instructor mustalso consider the individual student when determining the impact of an individual’sdisability within the classroom. While general statements about disabilities and the levelof ability or achievement students with that disability generally have, the special educator

Beth SkudzienskiCore Values ReflectionDr. Zack 6/16/2009must remember these are general speculations about the disability and should not betaken as fact for every student with that particular disability. The special educationteacher must remember that all students are different and the needs and ability level of students will vary with the individual. The special education teacher should not limit anystudent by placing expectations, whether great or low, on a student, but should insteadconsider each student on a case-by-case basis to determine the level of ability a studentmay possess. This can be applied during student teaching by the student teacher lookingat the individual instructional needs of the students and teaching to and meeting thoseneeds as much as possible.The Common Core of Learning states that special education teachers should beable to collaborate with general education teachers and other professionals within theschool setting. This is important for effective instruction to take place because the“general and special education teachers are expected to share responsibility for educatingstudents with special needs (). If a teacher is unable to effectively collaborate with astudent’s mainstreamed teacher or other professional dealing with the student, both theteachers instructional ability as well as that students achievement level will be hindered because of a lack of collaboration. Collaboration can be practiced during student teaching by the student teacher observing the cooperating teacher’s interaction and collaborationwith both the general education teachers as well as other professionals in the classroomand learning both positive and negative lessons from these observations. The studentteacher can also begin appropriate collaborative practices with fellow teachers and professionals in the student teaching placement.A third aspect of the Common Core of Learning is that special education teachersneed to have the ability to adapt and modify curriculum based on the individual needsand learning goals of each student. All special education teachers “must make an effort to