Caterina Lafergola, the principal of New York City’s Automotive High, spoke to Chalkbeat about her challenges in leading one of NYC’s worst schools, one where only 4% of students graduate college-ready and fewer than half graduate in four years. Here’s what Ms. Lafergola had to say about the impact of the Common Core State Standards on student learning:

Say what you want about Common Core — I don’t necessarily like the rollout of Common Core — but I think that Common Core is producing a higher caliber of student. Because we’re creating kids who are thinkers. 

I’m not saying that they’re coming on grade level, but I think that they’re coming with better skill sets. I think that we’re definitely seeing kids who are coming in with the stamina to write a paragraph, with the stamina to read a passage knowing how to annotate.