Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"How disturbing is the following quote, from this New York Times story titled "English Class in Common Core Era: 'Tom Sawyer' and Court Opinions?""

"The Common Core State Standards that most states have adopted have triggered plenty of political debate. But have they transformed how teachers are teaching - and what students are learning? Not nearly enough, according to Education Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to closing achievement gaps. "

"Listen to Dr. Schauna Findlay, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, describe the forthcoming Common Core State Standards and the state's plan for adopting these standards and developing curriculum maps for teachers to help in the transition from our current Indiana Standards to the new Common Core State Standards. "

"Gene Wilhoit served as chief state school officer in Arkansas and in Kentucky before the Council of Chief State School Officers asked him to assume the leadership of their association. Two decades earlier, Wilhoit had served as an active member of the board of an organization, the New Standards Project, that I had put together to develop new, internationally benchmarked student performance standards for the American states, along with a set of assessments set to those standards. After he took the helm as Executive Director of the CCSSO, Wilhoit led the successful joint effort of the country's chief state school officers and its governors to create the Common Core State Standards. In this multi-part interview, I talk with Wilhoit about why he thought it so important to create the standards and what he thinks will be needed to fully implement them. "

Grammar instruction may have waned in some classrooms starting in the early 2000s, largely because the high-stakes tests required by the No Child Left Behind law didn't assess grammar specifically. But with most states now using the Common Core State Standards, there's some thought that grammar is making a comeback-along with perennial debates about how best to teach it. "We are asking kids to dive into complex texts and understand them, so we need to teach them how to read complex sentences," said Chris Hayes, a veteran elementary teacher in Washoe County, Nev. And that requires deep knowledge of grammar.

"Dear Williamson County Schools Community Member: You may have heard the term Common Core State Standards. The State of Tennessee has adopted Common Core Standards for English language arts and mathematics, and Williamson County Schools has begun implementing these standards over the past few years. Williamson County Schools is already the highest performing school district in the State, and as Superintendent, I want to assure you that we will continue to build on our academic success working with the new State standards. "

"Math instructors at the Downers Grove high schools are developing a new curriculum based on the state's more difficult learning standards, one that will introduce some new courses. The Common Core Standards, which Illinois adopted in 2010, revamp learning expectations for students in English Language Arts and in Mathematics. Community High School District 99 officials plan to implement new curricula in the 2013-14 school year, while the statewide testing based on Common Core will start the following year"

"Interview with Janet Hale concerning the Common Core State Standards"

"When teachers understand what makes texts complex, they can better support their students in reading them. How is reading complex text like lifting weights? Just as it's impossible to build muscle without weight or resistance, it's impossible to build robust reading skills without reading challenging text. The common core state standards in language arts treat text difficulty as akin to weight or resistance in an exercise program. This is in contrast to most past discussion of this topic, which emphasized how overly complex text may impede learning. Such discussion therefore focused on developing various readability schemes and text gradients to help teachers determine which books might be too hard for their students. The new standards instead propose that teachers move students purposefully through increasingly complex text to build skill and stamina."

"Calculators. Protractors. Spreadsheets. Computer algebra systems. Dynamic geometry software. You might not realize it, but the Common Core State Standards for mathematics make explicit reference to the use of all these tools, and others, in learning math. I discovered this as I was gathering information for a recent Education Week story about calculator policies for the forthcoming common-Core exams. It turns out that the standards have a lot to say about using technology."

"How in the world are we supposed to apply the Common Core writing standards to teaching English language learners? We've been asking that question of ourselves and others over the past two years, and we suspect we're not the only educators doing so. After reviewing the many resources available that attempt to provide guidance to teachers of English language learners (see "Resources of Note") and combining what we've learned through our daily classroom experience, we've developed a tentative answer to that question. Educators need to keep in mind three crucial elements when teaching writing to English language learners (ELLs) in the context of the Common Core State Standards:"

"This collection of blog posts highlights lesson plans, ideas, and other useful resources to help you bring Common Core-aligned lessons into your classroom. We're actively building this repository of ideas every week, so make sure to bookmark this page. You can also follow #CCSS or #CCSSChat on Twitter for the latest updates."

"This post continues a series begun in 2014 on implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The first installment introduced an analytical scheme investigating CCSS implementation along four dimensions: curriculum, instruction, assessment, and accountability. Three posts focused on curriculum. This post turns to instruction. Although the impact of CCSS on how teachers teach is discussed, the post is also concerned with the inverse relationship, how decisions that teachers make about instruction shape the implementation of CCSS."

Video of Doug Reeves discussing Common Core State Standards CCSS. He discusses political realities, strengths, weakness, and his center's (Learning and Leadership Center) responses.

By Dr. Bena Kallick "The recent report from the Center on Education Policy (PDF) provides a perspective on the key issues districts will need to deal with as they make a transition from their present work based on state standards to the common core standards."

Visual By Mike Fisher of Bena Kallick's posting on Common Core Standards: Uncommon Shifts in Practice

Ongoing presentations, information, and updates for Indiana on the implementation of the Common core State Standards

"Now that the Common Core State Standards in English and math have been adopted by most states, how will teaching and learning change? This two-part ASCD SmartBrief Special Report on the Common Core State Standards offers educators a guide to the latest information. Part II of this special report looks at how states and districts are preparing for the changes and how student assessments will be revamped. Part I of the report, published on Tuesday, looked at the standards in detail and how instruction will change. "

Well ... yes and no, according to a pair of new surveys from the RAND Corporation, a research and analysis firm. Teachers do seem to be getting a lot of professional development aligned to the common core in both English language arts and math. The problem is that it's not always focused on the topics that they say they need the most help on. Instead, teachers seem to be saying: "OK, we totally get that there are these new standards. We even kinda know what they want us to do differently. But we still need help digging into the pedagogy on some of the finer points."