Educating, Engaging and Enlisting Parents around the Common Core

By Kelsey Pine, National Marketing & Communications Manager at Stand for Children

We support the Common Core because it is a clear, collaborative vision that identifies what students need to know to be successful in the 21st century.

Before 2010, a student in Montana would graduate from high school with a different set of knowledge and skills than a student in Massachusetts. That’s because each state has different academic standards, which are benchmarks telling students what they’re supposed to learn at each grade level. All of our children need to be better prepared for a rapidly changing workplace. But instead, rigor varies markedly across states and very few states have standards that prepare students for the evolving, technology-driven workforce. It is time we updated our approach so that students, no matter where they are across the nation, have a fair shot in our evolving world.

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27
Mar 2013
AUTHOR Kelsey Pine
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The Next Generation of Accreditation Standards and Evidence

By James G. Cibulka, president, Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation

The Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP) takes up its responsibilities as the new national accreditor of educator preparation providers at a time of high interest in P-12 student performance and in the capabilities of the education workforce. In this context, accreditation must be a strong lever in shaping educator preparation, assuring the public of the rigor of educator preparation programs.

Accreditation is a non-governmental activity based on peer-review that serves the dual functions of assuring quality and motivating improvement. CAEP, then, is ideally positioned to play an effective role through its accreditation standards as a collaborator and initiator of changes in educator preparation that enhance the effects of widespread education reforms. The accreditation process provides a ready means of bringing evidence to bear on the task of meeting the unique demands, challenges, and opportunities that make up the new educational landscape.

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22
Mar 2013
AUTHOR James G. Cibulka
COMMENTS No Comments

The Common Core | Bringing relevance and a new level of engagement into the classroom

By Lauren Brooks, Wake County (NC) Teacher of the Year

“Ms. Brooks, are we going to have to think today?” Denisha says as she walks into the room. I’ve found it interesting how often this question arises in my Common Core Math 1 classroom.

For the past five years, I have taught Algebra 1 and enjoyed it. I worked hard to interweave real-world applications into the material so my students were introduced to math that was meaningful. Eventually, though, the dreaded question would always arise: “When will I ever use this?” I would search in my Rolodex of applicable reasons for why students would need systems of equations or quadratics, only to come up with a small, irrelevant list that only mattered for their futures, but was unrelated to their current lives. I yearned to find a way to make Algebra relevant because of the package in which the content was delivered, and soon after, I discovered the Common Core State Standards.

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04
Mar 2013
AUTHOR Lauren Brooks
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Students understand world through Common Core Curriculum

Lyn Cannaday, an English teacher and writer in Phoenix, shares how her students have thrived through a Common Core curriculum in the Education Week article, “A Happy Tale From a Common-Core Classroom.”

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01
Mar 2013
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments