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A friend recently told me that his son is taking four AP classes this year – this kid is a whiz and likely bound for an Ivy League college so this is not a challenge. 
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The implementation of the Common Core State Standards has been a mess and has put these standards at risk of survival. "I am a supporter of the Common Core State Standards. It is important that a student in California gain the same basic knowledge and skills as a student in Arkansas. We live in a global and mobile community; we owe it to future generations to prepare them for this new world. Plus, many of my teacher friends say these standards are strong and provide new challenges for excellence for their students. I trust their judgment."
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"Some have argued that the antecedents to the Standards journey as far back to the Reagan administration, when the National Commission on Excellence in Education released its report titled "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform."
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The pushback is getting stronger in Maryland, Massachusetts, Louisiana and other states.
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Board of Education gave preliminary approve Thursday to dropping algebra II as a requirement for high school students to graduate, over the objections of critics who say the state is watering down its academic...
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Imagine the intentional focus you would bring to crossing a rushing creek. Each stepping-stone is different in shape, each distance uneven and unpredictable, requiring you to tread with all senses in
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Grievance is unusual because it is on behalf of all 8,700 teachers
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“The first few weeks of homework … there was a lot of us asking, ‘Why are you doing that? You are wasting time. Just add the numbers,’ ” said Camille Chudzinski."
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Help students uncover knowledge Instead of teaching scripted curriculum defined by a textbook, consider putting your teaching skills and expertise to good use during the instructional planning phase by using essential questions to fuel the learning. Essential questions require students to construct knowledge and when combined with a flexible lesson design this type of learning can allow students to express learning in original ways. There is no room for answers that simply require copying and pasting, and worksheets become obsolete.
Mel Riddile's insight:
Essential Questions
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Florida superintendents have also requested a three-year delay in common-core implementation, but that state's school board doesn't appear sympathetic to the idea.
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When I look at the transition to Common Core, I see again a powerful structure to guide the work and answer the four key questions!
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By Al Bruce The Spectator The state Education Department’s “imperfect and hurried” introduction of the Common Core Curriculum “has virtually turned schools across the state upside down,” Alfred-Almond Superintendent Rich Calkins said earlier this month. Calkins called the quick adoption of the new curriculum part of the most sweeping change in the history of New York state education. He labeled the mandated curriculum, the drastic decrease in state education financial aid during the past several years and the Annual Professional Performance Review introduced last school year as “a perfect storm” that secondary schools educators are struggling to confront.
jhenehan's curator insight,
December 1, 2013 6:47 PM
I posted this article because it opened my eyes to the common core and how some people think that it is great and others and very unsure. In this article it mentions how the common core has turned schools in New York upside down. It has caused problems for schools. I personally feel that the common core is important as a standard for schools across the country. I think that it is a standard that needed to take place. The article also mentions how schools and educators are struggling. Especially secondary schools. This article is very inspriring. |
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I recently spent a week in Orlando, but I didn’t hobnob with cartoon animals or traverse any kingdoms, magical or otherwise. In fact, the only mouse ears I saw were in the airport gift shop.
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Lexile Measure 1240L Mean Sentence Length 18.76 Mean Log Word Frequency 3.26 Word Count 769 "The Literature Task plays an important role in honing students’ ability to read complex text closely, a skill that research reveals as the most significant factor differentiating college-ready from non-college-ready readers. This task will ask students to carefully consider literature worthy of close study and compose an analytic essay."
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"These young citizens are learning how to engage effectively in collaborative discussions. They are posing questions, responding to questions, making clarifications and providing comments that contribute to the discussion. Most importantly, they are thinking before speaking and writing. They are thriving in a student-centered environment. They are addressing real life subjects, solving problems, answering complex questions and investigating global issues. They are immersed in a passionate, compassionate and animated classroom. Common Core State Standards are helping teachers create a learning environment in which these experiences are happening daily. Teachers are inspired by their students' eagerness and new-found curiosity for learning."
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This Fordham Institute publication—co-authored by President Chester E. Finn Jr. and VP Michael J. Petrilli—pushes folks to think about what comes next in the journey to common education standards and tests.
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"It (MA) will keep using PARCC and MCAS simultaneously so it can figure out which assessments set better expectations for its students." "Mitchell D. Chester, the commissioner of education who proposed the phase-in approach, told me that it just doesn't make sense to expect his high school students to suddenly meet a "college-ready" bar in order to graduate. Not when four in 10 of Massachusetts students who clear the MCAS hurdle and enroll in state colleges or universities have to take at least one remedial class."
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As widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards moves ever closer, the initiative is coming under attack from both the left and right.
Mel Riddile's insight:
Align curriculum, train teachers, allocate resources
"Riddile urges administrators to figure out how they would need to allocate resources for hardware and bandwidth, while they begin training teachers and administrators in the new standards. The bandwidth issue presents little problem for districts in metropolitan areas, Riddile says, but given the still-spotty coverage of broadband internet in rural counties, “it might be a concern.” He adds that in “districts that have been integrating technology for years, this shouldn’t be a problem at all.” Riddile warns administrators to be cautious in purchasing new textbooks, whether in print or electronic media, to ensure they’re truly Common Core-ready and don’t just have a stamp saying so. Many states’ academic expectations have risen by one or two grades with the implementation of Common Core."
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All states are on board in embracing new college- and career-readiness standards, a new report finds, but implementation progress and accountability provisions vary by state.
Mel Riddile's insight:
19 states have or will administer college- and career-ready high school assessments that give students a readiness score they can use for placement when entering a postsecondary institution.
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If I were to be given the choice to do just one thing for India's development, then I would make it compulsory for every TV channel in India adopt same-language subtitling (SLS) for their shows. Li...
Mel Riddile's insight:
Our media distribution system made it possible for teachers to turn off the sound and force students to read subtitles on videos. I have been told that Finnish TV has a high percentage of subtitled programming.
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Chief among the complaints of students, parents and teachers are the overemphasis on and poor quality of standardized tests that schools are made to impose.
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A 12-year teacher at his alma mater, Charbonneau said the increased rigor and learning expectations in Common Core matches up with his early teaching revelation that students must be challenged.
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Susan Volinski's curator insight,
December 2, 2013 11:03 AM
This article presents the perspective of an elementary school teacher, Jessica Moore, from Boulder, CO, I read many articles about teachers arguing against the common core, so it was interesting to hear a perspective of a teacher who supports the common core stating that the curriculum is “good for kids and will help teachers be better educators.” She presents herself as a diverse woman who has worked with children ranging from gifted, to children with emotional and learning disabilities, to second language learners. Moore has had a positive experience with the common core curriculum because her students are asking more questions and are more engaged and interacted in the material being taught. Her whole argument by stating that teachers have more room for creativity and flexibility with the common core standards because they are broader. Personally, I disagree with her statement completely because from what I have seen so far with common core, it seems that there is a new set way of doing a problem, and students must follow the exact new method that was taught. For example, when I was observing my cooperating teacher for my university course – the math problem was along the lines of figuring out how many more candy canes one child had than the other. The teacher then explained the step by step way to solve this problem, by first making an array, then figuring out an equation, and then solving the problem with correct units in the answer. I feel that with the great number of requirements and materials teachers have to teach in such a short amount of time, there isn’t exactly much room for creativity and flexibility. Her perspective on common core as an international communication device was interesting: she stated that since all the states in US are under the common core standards, she was able to contact and communicate with teachers from other states to discuss what they were teaching because all being under the same curriculum, they should all be relatively synchronized in the material that they are covering. I wonder if this is a good idea though because different states have a different culture and environment and many lesson plans should be geared toward the students in that classroom.
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In this post, we share three qualities that we think are paramount to good teaching, particularly good Common Core aligned instruction.
jhenehan's curator insight,
December 1, 2013 7:03 PM
THE THREE C's. Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration. These three C's will stay with me forever as a teacher because I read this article. This article impacted me as a future educator. It opened my eyes to the importance of standards. It also raised many questions in my mind about how teachers are assessed on meeting these standards. Critical Thinking---- analyze, evaluate, and integrate. Very important for students. The article also gave the audience three question to remember when making lesson plans. This will be helpful. Communication---- sharing ideas with others. Lastly Collaboration---- its all about listening, talking, and reading the work of others. This is important for great thinking to occur. The three C's should be incorporated into every classroom!! |
