Standards and Disciplines

"I was just given a copy of the GaDOE's Curriculum Maps for ELA 9-12th grades. I need some help from you before I quit my job and lead the charge for every other high school English teacher to do the same. I have taught for many years, am am good at my job, am an asset to the school at which I teach, and love teaching."

"Welcome to Inside Mathematics, a professional resource for educators passionate about improving students' mathematics learning and performance. This site features classroom examples of innovative teaching methods and insights into student learning, tools for mathematics instruction that teachers can use immediately, and video tours of the ideas and materials on the site. We are glad you're here and look forward to learning with you!"

14 Modules to aid teachers in learing the thinking required to be involved in the 8 Standards for Mathematical Practices. Free and downloadable.

"Participants in the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) project have created two reports of recommendations for introductory statistics courses (college level) and statistics education in Pre-K-12 years. "

White Paper

"When the word creativity is used, the left side of my head begins to hurt. Now why would that happen? Let's see, could be the years of exposure to right and left brain mumbo jumbo?"

Handouts Notes from ASCD Presentation on Assessments Shifts Presented by Susan M. Brookhart Presented April 3, 2012.

"I've always struggled with calculating students' participation grades. I have experimented with rubrics for students to fill out for themselves, or ways for them to track their participation grades daily or weekly. I've tried ditching it altogether and just grading students for distinct speaking activities. "

"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."

"To be college and career ready, students need to be able to read sufficiently complex texts on their own and gather evidence, knowledge, and insight from those texts. These close reading exemplars intend to model how teachers can support their students as they undergo the kind of careful reading the Common Core State Standards require. Each of these exemplars features the following: i) readings tasks in which students are asked to read and reread passages and respond to a series of text dependent questions; 2) vocabulary and syntax tasks which linger over noteworthy or challenging words and phrases; 3) discussion tasks in which students are prompted to use text evidence and refine their thinking; and 4) writing tasks that assess student understanding of the text."

"Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium - Smarter Balanced is a state-led consortium developing assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics that are designed to help prepare all students to graduate high school college- and career-ready."

Karin Hess Learning Progressions Designed for Use with the CCSS ELA

"A new report offers a "bleak picture" of the state of state science standards across the nation, with just over half earning a grade of D or F. Among the 10 states to receive a failing grade were Idaho, Oregon, and Wisconsin. (See the full list below.)"

"Georgia teachers are starting to get schooled on the new Common Core State Standards that roll out in the nation's math and English/language arts classes as early as next year."

"What is the framework? A Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies the key scientific practices, concepts and ideas that all students should learn by the time they complete high school. It is intended as a guide for those who develop science education standards, those who design curricula and assessments, and others who work in K-12 science education."

"Five states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards are beginning work on an initiative to create an open-source "platform" that would help teachers access, download, and create resources tied to the common standards, officials from the Council of Chief State School Officers told us today."

"Specialists from the Indiana Department of Education in the areas of History/Social Studies, Science, CTE, Physical and Health Education, and Fine Arts provide an overview of the Common Core State Standards and guidance in the newly required Literacy Standards for each content area. Information regarding the assessment, implementation and instruction of these literacy standards are presented. "

"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. "

"ASCD SmartBrief Special Report: Common Core State Standards (Part I) For many years, academic standards in the U.S. have differed by state, district and sometimes even school. The varying standards have resulted in wide disparities in student knowledge. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards by most states is an attempt to create guidelines that can be used by educators across the country to teach math and English, with the goal of improving student proficiency. This two-part ASCD SmartBrief Special Report on the Common Core State Standards offers guidance to educators on what to expect as the standards are implemented. Part I examines the standards and how instruction will change. Part II, to be published Thursday, looks at how schools are beginning to align their teaching with the common core and how testing will change. "