Utilizing Common Core State Standards

Teaching Using Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

The establishment of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is one of the most important components in the field of education that is geared towards enhancing student learning and outcomes. Common Core Standards are essential in enhancing student learning and outcomes since they are a set of objectives for students to accomplish by the conclusion of their school year. However, these standards are not curriculum and do not determine the techniques employed by teachers in the classroom year. Currently, I teach Business Marketing in Grade 9-12 in a school where we utilize Pennsylvania Common Core Standards. My classroom comprises of students from different backgrounds with different learning needs and in different stages in their growth and development. The students are usually very attentive during the lessons and participate in classroom discussions. My students are seemingly interested in pursuing a career in the marketing field as shown in their attentiveness and participation in the lessons and other learning activities relating to this subject.
Standards Reflecting Students’ Strengths
The applicable Pennsylvania Common Core Standards for my subject and students is Business, Computer and Information Technology (BCIT) Standards for Grades Pre K-12. Pennsylvania’s Department of Education developed these standards to guide what public schools shall teach, challenge, and support each student to achieve his/her maximum potential and to obtain knowledge and skills relating to the various components in business, computer and information technology (Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards Aligned System, 2012). These Common Core Standards for Pennsylvania comprises various standards for business marketing course for different grade levels including marketing fundamentals, communication in marketing, marketing mix, marketing as a profession, and research.
The standard that reflects my students’ strengths in BCIT 15.9.12, which is a Business Marketing standard for Grade 9-12. This standard reflects my students’ strengths in two major ways i.e. understanding of marketing as a profession and marketing fundamentals. In a recent survey, the overall student score in each of these marketing concepts was at least 70% as shown in the figure below…
Figure 1 – Overall Students’ Performance in Marketing Concepts
Through the course, my students have enhanced their understanding of marketing as a profession and have demonstrated huge interest in pursuing a career in the marketing field. My students have been able to show understanding of the various marketing careers and the role of marketing in the business world. Additionally, my students have demonstrated grasp of professional designations and organizations in the marketing field as well as the required educational and certification qualifications for the various marketing careers. In this case, BCIT 15.9.12.A. standard of Pennsylvania Common Core Standards reflects one of my students’ major strengths in the classroom.
Secondly, BCIT 15.9.12.B and 15.9.12.C reflect my students’ strengths in terms of their understanding of the various marketing influences in the business world and the various members in the marketing channel. Throughout class discussions and assignments, my students have shown understanding on how marketing affects modern business, households, and society. When I asked them to name the various ways through which marketing influences households, business and the society, my students provided various answers including consumer-to-consumer, business-to-business, and business-to-consumer. With regards to the various members of a marketing channel, my students provided several members including the company, wholesaler, retailers, consumers, and other intermediaries. Through this my students have demonstrated that some of their major strengths include understanding of marketing as a profession and marketing fundamentals, which are the foundations towards pursuing a career in this field. Therefore, my students have a suitable foundation and framework for pursuing a career in the field of marketing.
Teaching Strategies that have Influenced Mastery of this Standard
My students’ development of a suitable foundation for pursuing a career in the marketing field is influenced by the teaching strategies I have employed in the classroom. These teaching strategies have enabled these students to successfully master the standard, which has become one of their major strengths. The first step I took towards developing a suitable teaching strategy for the classroom was to identify the relevant PA Common Core Standard to be accomplished by the end of the school year with respect to Business Marketing. This was followed by conducting an analysis of the specific needs of my students in order to develop an instructional strategy that meets their needs and enhance their learning and outcomes. Once the standard and students’ needs was identified, I selected an instructional strategy that would help in delivery of the curriculum in a manner that meets students needs and promotes the accomplishment of this standard (The Teacher’s Academy, 2014).
The instructional strategy I utilized in teaching these marketing topics is facilitator or activity teaching style, which entails promoting self-learning among students (Gill, 2013). Through this strategy, I interacted with my students and provided class activities that were linked to the topics. Moreover, I engaged students in class discussions and activities that prompted them to discover the various issues relating to the topics. This instructional strategy led my students to demonstrate successful mastery of the topics through developing critical thinking skills and engaging in self-learning. As a result, the students made discoveries of the relevant facts relating to marketing and retained knowledge that contributed to self-actualization while promoting mastery of the subjects. This instructional strategy was research-based since every activity was based on research findings. I know my students have demonstrated mastery of the topics through testing their knowledge through memorization and class assignments.
Standard Reflecting an Opportunity for Students’ Improvement
Even though my students have demonstrated mastery of the foundational/basic skills for pursuing a career in the field of marketing, there are some areas for improvement that will help enhance their chances of success in marketing. The PA Common Core Standard that reflects an opportunity/area for improvement for my students is BCIT 15.9.12.E., which relates to consumer behavior patterns. According to Pennsylvania Common Core Standards, students are required to demonstrate ability to research and analyze patterns in consumer behavior and the impact of those patterns on business and the economy under BCIT 15.9.12.E (Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards Aligned System, 2012). This is an area of communications in marketing that is crucial for success in a career in this field. The significance of understanding consumer behavior patterns and their impact is vital in the marketing field since this career focuses on customers and developing suitable measures for reaching them. Based on recent analysis, the overall student score, on a scale of 0-9, for each of these concepts was below average as shown in the figure below:
Figure 2 – Overall Students’ Performance in Marketing Communications

According to Kahn (2017), understanding consumer behavior patterns is vital since it enables one to understand the customer. In the modern business landscape, which is characterized by increased changes, understanding customers’ motivations is not only vital for success in business, but a necessary skill for individual’s in the marketing field. In this regard, this standard reflects an opportunity for improvement for my students since having foundational skills is not adequate for success in the field of marketing. While these students have demonstrated considerable interest in pursuing a career in marketing and mastered the foundational skills, they need to master skills for conducting research and analyzing consumer behavior patterns. This standard can be utilized as premise for my students to build upon their foundational skills and promoting their development in this field.
Reasons Students have not Mastered this Standard
One of the reasons students in my classroom have not mastered this standard is because they are struggling in conducting research. These students have struggled to master the art of conducting research, which is a crucial component towards the mastery this standard. While I have utilized different styles in teaching them how to conduct research, these students have failed to master the necessary research skills that are crucial for this topic. The second challenge for the students’ failure in mastering this standard is the lack of adequate curriculum materials on this topic. Inadequate curriculum materials have been identified as one of the major failures of the Common Core Standards (Dintersmith & Wagner, 2016). Since these standards provide guidelines on knowledge and skills students should develop by the end of the school year, they end up generating additional demands for teachers with respect to curriculum materials. In this case, I have experienced huge difficulties in finding adequate curriculum materials that would help enhance my students’ mastery of this standard.
In conclusion, Common Core State Standards have been established as guidelines for determining what students must achieve by the end of their school year. Even though these standards do not dictate how teachers teach in classrooms, they influence the teaching strategies and curriculum materials utilized by teachers. As evident in this analysis, states have established these standards to guide student achievements across various subjects and topics. Currently, I teach Business Marketing in Grade 9-12 and utilize Pennsylvania Common Core Standards in my classroom. The relevant PA standard for my classroom is 15.9.12, which addresses the topic of Business, Computer and Information Technology. It is evident that the achievement of these various standards requires the use of different instructional strategies and curriculum materials with respect to the students’ needs and curriculum goals.
References
Dintersmith, T. & Wagner, T. (2016, August 18). The Real Failure of Common Core. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ted-dintersmith/the-real-failure-of-common-core_b_7997912.html
Gill, E. (2013, January 5). What is Your Teaching Style? 5 Effective Teaching Methods for Your Classroom. Retrieved from Concordia University – Portland website: https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/5-types-of-classroom-teaching-styles/
Kahn. (2017, January 5). 5 Reasons to Study Marketing for Any Career Path. Retrieved from The Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania website: https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/story/5-reasons-study-marketing-career-path/
Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards Aligned System. (2012, April). Academic Standards for Business, Computer and Information Technology. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/BCIT_standards.pdf
The Teacher’s Academy. (2014, November 14). The Common Core in PA. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://www.theteachersacademy.com/blog/the-common-core-in-pa/