Inside the Instructional Materials Taskforce (Part 1)
By Lisa Goldschmidt, Digital Director, Student Achievement Partners Representatives from six districts from across the United States are embarking on a project that will culminate in their ability to support an instructional materials selection process that trains reviewers to identify alignment to the key shifts of the Common Core State Standards. It can be a […]
Read More →Educators, Administrators and PTA Leaders Break Down the Common Core in New Video Series
By Shannon Sevier, Vice President for Advocacy for National PTA
National PTA recently released a video series on the Common Core to educate parents on the standards and empower them to support the implementation of the standards at school and home. The series was developed in partnership with The Hunt Institute as part of the association’s ongoing efforts to provide accurate information about the Common Core, ensure parents are knowledgeable about the standards and new assessments, and support parents every step of the way as states transition to the standards.
Read More →Preparing Turnaround Principals: North Carolina’s Regional Leadership Academies
By Kathleen M. Brown, Ed.D.
Developing school leaders who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to effectively lead low-performing schools has become a critical goal for local education agencies (LEAs) intent on dramatically improving student outcomes. North Carolina’s Race to the Top (RttT) plan acknowledges the pressing need for high-quality leadership in low-achieving schools; the component of the plan that focuses on ensuring equitable distribution of high-quality teachers and leaders identifies, among other things, a need for increasing the number of principals qualified to lead transformational change in low-performing schools in both rural and urban areas.
Read More →EDUCATE NC | Brokering honest information legislators trust
Earlier this month, 67 North Carolina legislators gathered for the Hunt Institute’s 10th Annual North Carolina Legislators Retreat. This bipartisan group spent two days with national and state education experts to discuss key education topics such as digital learning, STEM education, pay for performance and teacher tenure, teacher preparation, and implications for higher education. Many legislators also chose to attend a pre-session that addressed early childhood education and the shift to college- and career-ready standards.
Read More →The Power of Parents in the First State: Delaware PTA and the Common Core
Never underestimate the power of the parent’s voice! While there are models that assist schools with parent and family engagement such as Epstein’s Framework of Parent Involvement, parents can also play a pivotal role in partnering with policymakers and stakeholders in education. This partnership allows parents a voice in decisions that affect their children’s education. Through its work to ensure that parents understand upcoming changes brought about by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Delaware PTA (DPTA) has helped to raise the parent voice to create a significant impact across the state.
Read More →A Lesson from Kentucky on the Importance of CCSS Community Engagement
By Cherry Boyles, Instructional Supervisor, Washington County Schools
Throughout the country, there is much debate regarding implementation of the Common Core. Supporters believe this new set of standards will require educators to teach to a higher cognitive level enabling students to become better prepared for the global challenges they will face. Those opposed to the Common Core share concerns that not all students will be encouraged to reach their full potential because the Standards will become the “ceiling” of instruction.
With all due respect to the debaters, the truth is that both sides of this argument may be correct. States and local school districts have utilized standards-based instruction for years. In some cases, the standards were rigorous, but classroom instruction failed to maintain that level of expectation for all students. In other cases, the standards lacked rigor, and even though the majority of students were able to excel, the truly accelerated students failed to advance.
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