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"Welcome to the Think Tank related to demonstrating proficiency within the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics (Math) through transition-focused activities. We would like your input! Below are two tables of examples of activities that are focused on transition-related skills (e.g., self-advocacy, self-management, knowledge of career options, job-specific skills) connected to specific ELA and Math standards from the Common Core State Standards."

"U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of state schools superintendents Friday that he found it "fascinating" that some of the opposition to the Common Core State Standards has come from "white suburban moms who - all of a sudden - their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn't quite as good as they thought they were.""

"The school field trip has a long history in American public education. For decades, students have piled into yellow buses to visit a variety of cultural institutions, including art, natural history, and science museums, as well as theaters, zoos, and historical sites. Schools gladly endured the expense and disruption of providing field trips because they saw these experiences as central to their educational mission: schools exist not only to provide economically useful skills in numeracy and literacy, but also to produce civilized young men and women who would appreciate the arts and culture. More-advantaged families may take their children to these cultural institutions outside of school hours, but less-advantaged students are less likely to have these experiences if schools do not provide them. With field trips, public schools viewed themselves as the great equalizer in terms of access to our cultural heritage."

"Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs."

"Every teacher wants and expects his or her students to be reading increasingly complex texts, yet sometimes the gap between our expectations and our students' abilities seems wide and deep. It's tempting to look at that gap and step in to fill it for them, but then we'd be doing most of the "heavy lifting" - the understanding, analysis, and interpretation that our students should be learning for themselves."