Collection:LPB

Genre: Panel

Place Covered: Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2014-01-22

Duration: 00:55:42

Subjects: Filmed panel discussions | Education | Common Core State Standards Initiative

Contributors:

• Courtney, Beth Host
• Goidel, Kirby Host
• Gautreaux, Kevin Producer
• Fleming, Keisha Interviewee
• Miller, Ken Interviewee
• White, John Interviewee
• Erwin, Barry Interviewee
• Schneider, Mercedes Interviewee
• Richard, Scott Interviewee
• Jindal, Bobby Speaker
• Miller, Ken Panelist
• Barrios, Lee Panelist
• Bradford, Ken Panelist
• Geymann, Brett Panelist
• Bennett, Maya Panelist

This episode of the series “Louisiana Public Square” from January 22, 2014, features Beth Courtney and Kirby Goidel leading a discussion between the audience members and panelists on the Common Core educational standards. A background report on the topic precedes the discussion. It includes interviews with: Keisha Fleming, a 5th grade math teacher; Ken Miller of ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge; Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White; Barry Erwin, president of the Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL); Dr. Mercedes Schneider, a 10th grade language arts teacher; and Scott Richard, executive director of the Louisiana School Boards Association. A panel of experts then joins the audience to answer their questions. The panelists are: Ken Miller, engineering services manager at the ExxonMobil plant in Baton Rouge; Lee Barrios, a retired teacher and public education activist; Ken Bradford, assistant superintendent of the Louisiana Department of Education’s Office of Content; State Representative Brett Geymann; and Maya Bennett, a teacher leader on Common Core. They discuss: their views on Common Core; requiring higher educational standards for Louisiana students; local school districts implementing their own curriculum to meet the Common Core standards; the level of teacher input in developing the standards; the concerns about the high-stakes testing required by Common Core; whether Louisiana students can achieve at these higher levels; State Representative Geymann’s legislation for an alternative to Common Core; the impact of the new English language arts standards on student literacy; the Catholic schools implementing Common Core; the impact of the standards on students with special needs; teacher training for the new standards; educating parents about Common Core; and providing teachers with tools for implementing the standards.