The 2012-13 school year is off to a productive start with students and staff successfully handling a number of school reforms that began in September.

The high school schedule, which now includes eight full-year courses, has required greater organization and planning by both students and teachers. At all levels, the school district has begun to implement the new Common Core States Standards curriculum which is bringing greater rigor to our reading and math classes from kindergarten to grade 12.

In response to the challenging new curriculum, the Board of Education is considering a two-part proposal to reorganize the elementary schools to increase instructional time for young children and more focused math instruction for sixth-grade students. The first part of the proposal is to offer an all-day program to each kindergarten child. For the last couple of years, the early childhood educators who have studied the reading and math standards have recommended a longer school day to meet the more rigorous kindergarten standards.

Comparing the new standards to those used for the last several years shows some real differences. In math, children were expected to know their numbers 1 to 20 by the end of the year. The Common Core States Standards require the children not only to know the numbers but also be able to add and subtract using the numbers 1 to 5. Math is a far more advanced numeracy skill than previously required.

In reading, the kindergarten program focused primarily on fiction; with the new standards, the children will now be expected to read both fiction and non-fiction texts. In addition, the children will be taught to expand their writing from stories to now also include reports and opinion pieces.

To put it simply, all these objectives cannot be done well in an instructional period of less than 2½ hours. The teachers and children need more time, and the implementation of an all-day kindergarten program will significantly help to address that need.

The second part of the proposal involves sixth-grade children and the changes to the math standards at that grade level. The Common Core States Standards call for greater rigor at all grade levels, but the changes to the sixth-grade math standards are perhaps the most significant. The new standards move some of the Grade 7 concepts to Grade 6 in every unit of study. For example, the statistics unit in Grade 6 now includes the study of mean and standard deviation along with inter-quartile ranges.

In response to this change, the school board is considering the clustering all sixth-grade classes at Juliet Long School. This move would enable the school to provide math instruction by content-specific math teachers. The subjects other than math would be taught by the regular sixth-grade staff, but all math would be assigned to trained math teachers who would be able to concentrate on the new math standards.

Parts of the proposal are aimed at providing the best possible instruction to our children as we adapt and respond to the challenges of the exciting educational reforms being implemented statewide. The school board will consider these proposals at its regular meeting in early November. If community members have questions or concerns, please contact your school principal or the superintendent of schools at mgraner@ledyard.net.

MICHAEL GRANER IS THE LEDYARD SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.