Solutions to a “Common” Problem

James McCloskey doesn’t like to read on the internet.

The white binder stuffed with articles brought a level of shock-value to our interview that hadn’t been anticipated.

“This is the second one,” says McCloskey. “I have another one with the rest of my stuff. I print everything out.”

McCloskey, a junior elementary and special education major, has read approximately 30 articles to research his Summer Scholars Project. His question: How has the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) affected educators and how can it be improved?

“The CCSS are the standards by which all curricula are obtained and built off of in the state of Pennsylvania,” says McCloskey. “During both my freshman and sophomore years, my education professors talked a lot about the common core. Everything I was hearing was negative but no one was offering any solutions.”

According to McCloskey’s research, the current implementation process of the CCSS is where the system could be improved. His literature review offers an examination of how additional professional development may benefit educators.

“It seemed like a lot of professional development available to educators will only focuses on individual skills sporadically,” says McCloskey. “So in my paper I talk about picking a starting point and adding to that concept each month to keep building on top of things instead of doing just one specific thing once.”

Though this began as a Summer Scholars Project, McCloskey plans on continuing his research throughout the fall semester.

“Doing education research is tough in the summer. Getting interviews with educators was difficult, but I had a couple school districts who asked me to reach back out in the fall so I plan on pursuing those connections,” says McCloskey.

Overall, McCloskey’s goal is to publish his findings during the spring semester, and he hopes that his research will lead to the evaluation and implementation of restructured standards.

This research bears special importance to McCloskey as a future educator, but it also allows him to combine his passion for education and political science in a practical setting. The Philadelphia native hopes to eventually receive a master’s degree in public policy, which he plans to use to work towards improving school environments after an extensive career as an elementary school teacher.

While he isn’t reading articles on the CCSS, McCloskey also works as a Hawk host and an RA, and serves as both the historian for Kappa Delta Pi, the international honors society in education, and the vice president for Council for Exceptional Children.