By Ha Giang, Nguoi Viet
WESTMINSTER, Calif. – Before coming to the United States Hanh Le worked as a high school teacher in Vietnam. Despite her background in education, like a lot of Vietnamese parents she says she is confused by the new Common Core education standards.
TAKOMA PARK, MD – MAY 16: Teacher Veronica Munoz goes over fractions with her students in fourth grade math class at Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park, MD on May 16, 2013. Montgomery County Fourth and Fifth grade math teachers are training themselves to teach students in a new style of learning math to prepare them for newer, more rigorous education standards under Common Core. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“I’ve got a general understanding,” said Le, whose daughter is in the seventh grade. Le says she tried to learn more about the new standards – adopted by California in 2010 and set for full implementation this year – but found the existing literature “too difficult.”
Indeed, for Vietnamese parents, many of whom are accustomed to the more traditional test-based approach to education, Common Core poses a variety of challenges.
“Parents previously only had to … make sure their children completed their homework and fulfilled class requirements,” explained Nguyen Quoc Lan, who sits on the school board of Garden Grove Unified. The area is home to one of the country’s largest Vietnamese communities.
With the new standards, he points out, parents will now have to make sure not only that the answers are correct, but also that their children actually understand the process and that they can articulate it in writing.
“Under Common Core, students will have to learn how to work together, to collaborate, and how to research properly … to identify key words [and] locate source materials,” Lan said. Parents, he adds, will be key to that process.
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed in response to cries from leaders in higher education and industry over the growing number of high school graduates ill-prepared to enter college or the workforce. A state-led effort begun in 2009, the standards change the way English Language Arts and math are taught in the classroom, placing a higher degree of emphasis on creative thinking and analysis – skills deemed critical to the demands of the 21st century economy.
California joined 44 states and the District of Columbia when it adopted the standards in 2010. This month, students will begin sitting for a pilot version of the new Common Core-aligned assessments – known as the Smarter Balance. Official results won’t be available until 2016. There is wide speculation over a likely drop in scores with the new tests.
Lan says Vietnamese parents, who have long relied on test scores as the sole measure of their child’s academic success, aren’t well informed about the coming changes. He says part of the problem is that districts haven’t done a good job explaining the standards.
“Without adequate explanations,” he said, “then when the students struggle, the parents will struggle too.”
Amy Stevens is a spokesperson for the Garden Grove School District. She says the district recognizes the need to increase awareness of the new standards within the Vietnamese community, and points to several workshops that have been held for Vietnamese parents.
As for in-language materials, she says the district will provide them “when they are available.”
Until then, many parents will be left scratching their heads.
Tran Manh Hung’s two children are enrolled in Westminster School District in Orange County.
“Truthfully, I don’t know what’s expected of me,” he admitted. Hung says he received handouts from the district about the new standards a few months back but that he still did not fully understand them. “I probably will have to ask my oldest son to help.”
Like a lot of parents in the community, Hung has relied on private afterschool classes to help ensure his kids keep up with their studies. But many of these classes have yet to reorient themselves to the new standards.
David Nguyen, founder of UC Campus, one of the most popular tutoring centers in the Vietnamese community, says that as an educator he has paid “very close attention” to the Common Core Standards, but has yet to make any changes to his program’s curriculum.
“The Common Core is a very good concept, but as far as teaching goes, everything is still very vague right now. We want to wait and see how teachers in the area change the way they teach before we adjust our programs,” explained Nguyen.
There is also concern over how the new and more rigorous standards will impact low-income students and English Language Learners. Data shows that more than half of Vietnamese in the United States speak English “less than very well,” while some 13 percent live below the poverty line.
A report put out last year by the nationwide advocacy group Southeast Asian Resource Center notes additional support at the state, district and school level will be necessary to ensure these students “will be able to achieve the higher standards” of the Common Core.
In the meantime, Lan offers this advice.
“Parents have to increase their involvement, they have to talk to teachers more often, ask the teacher to explain what the new standards for their child’s class are. They need to ask the school for the Common Core Standards materials, or go to the district’s website to find them. If necessary, ask someone with strong English skills to explain the materials to you.”
That kind of involvement, he adds, will help the students adjust.
“Experience shows that when students see parents showing an active interest in their schooling, … they make more of an effort,” Lan said. “I believe children have an innate need to make their parents proud.”
