New, Free Resource for Implementing the Common Core
By Ed Milliken, ASCD
We know that implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a challenge for a lot of educators. That’s why we here at ASCD have created the new, free EduCore™ digital tool to help teachers and administrators implement the CCSS in both mathematics and literacy. Funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the EduCore tool is a repository of evidence-based strategies, videos, and supporting documents that help educators transition to the CCSS.
We’ve designed the EduCore tool for both the math and English language arts literacy standards. The math section of the EduCore tool supports CCSS implementation and features a variety of formative assessment lessons and videos ready for classroom use, including more than 20 formative assessment mathematics lessons. Developed by the Shell Centre these middle and high school Classroom Challenges include problem-solving and content-development formative assessments on subjects such as solving linear equations in two variables and applying angle theorems. Useful plans, student materials, PowerPoint slides, and other materials round out the many mathematics resources available.
Read More →Majority of Americans Believe the Common Core Will Help Education in the U.S. be more Globally Competitive
The recently released Phi Delta Kappan(PDK)/Gallup Poll shows that “most Americans (53%) believe that the common core standards will allow U.S. schools to compete globally, and that three of four Americans believe CCSS will provide consistency in the quality of education between school districts and states.” This is the first year that the poll, which measures the public’s attitudes toward public schools, includes questions about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Half of those polled believe the CCSS will improve the quality of education in their community’s schools.
Read More →Standard Facts
By Christopher Cross, Cross & Joftus
Education should be about students and how they achieve success. That means that we, as a nation, must have a common understanding of the academic standards we want our students to reach and our schools to teach. Unfortunately, there are those who drag red herrings into the equation, one of them being the campaign of disinformation against the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Don’t be misled.
As someone who was fortunate enough to serve as Assistant Secretary of Education under President George H.W. Bush, later as president of the Maryland State Board of Education, and later still as CEO of the Council for Basic Education, I’ve seen standards up close and know what’s of value – from development through implementation. So, here are the facts:
Read More →Common Core State Standards Focus of this Issue of the Library of Congress TPS Journal
The current issue of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Journal focuses on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and how the inclusion of “primary sources can support teaching to meet the standards.” The Library of Congress describes primary sources as the “raw materials of history” and provides teachers with authentic materials, such […]
Read More →ELLs, the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards
By Kenji Hakuta, Stanford University School of Education
The educational reform energy triggered by the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards presents an exciting challenge for English Language Learners (ELLs) and their teachers. During the implementation phase, we as educators need to channel this energy well in order to simultaneously provide academically rigorous content instruction and promote English language development that is purposeful and in correspondence to the new content standards.
The Understanding Language Initiative (funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) is a national dialogue about the new standards and ELLs, with the aim of improving ELL learning through the implementation of appropriate, standards-guided instruction.
Read More →Gov. Hunt at the VA Governor’s K12 Education Reform Summit
Today at 12:30pm ET, tune in for a live broadcast of Governor Hunt’s keynote address from the Virginia Governor’s K12 Education Reform Summit in Richmond. The summit brings together a diverse and highly influential group of more than 500 leaders to discuss how to produce competitive K-12 outcomes. The live webcast will be available here.
Read More →The Case for Ongoing Professional Learning for State Boards of Education
By Elizabeth Ross, National Association of State Boards of Education
Nearly every state has embarked on the ambitious goal of ensuring that every child is prepared to enter the workforce and college with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful. In 44 states, Washington, D.C., and three territories, state boards of education adopted or recommended adopting the Common Core State Standards or the state’s own college/career standards.[1] Adoption, however, was the easy part; implementation brings its own set of complex issues.
One of these challenges is leadership turnover. Just on state education boards, more than 200 board members have served two years or less on their board, with more changes to come after the November elections. As a result, many policymakers are grappling with their new responsibilities in addition to the educational needs of students in their state
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