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Watch how teachers can review rhetorical devices with students in preparation for a writing assignment. Video delves into the art of persuasion and crafting an argument. 
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More Than 12 States Report Problems With Computerized Tests.
The “Answer Sheet” blog of the Washington Post (4/25, Strauss) reports that according to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (“FairTest”), several states have reported issues in administering their computer-based Common Core standardized tests. Citing a list of headlines from across the US, FairTest says the ongoing problems “reinforces the conclusion that the technologies rushed into the marketplace by political mandates and the companies paid to implement them are not ready for prime time.”
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“Whether it’s the English test or math test, there’s a great emphasis on constructing responses to questions,” says Jeff Nellhaus, chief of assessment for PARCC.
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Educators Bill Zahner, Ben Spielberg, Gladis Kersaint, Denisse R. Thompson, Maria Montelvo-Balbed, and Denise Huddlestun share their suggestions for how teachers can best handle the challenge of teaching Common Core Math to English Language Learners.
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"You might be thinking that it has become hard to track just what states are doing with respect to reconsidering or taking a second look at the common core. Fortunately, Dan Thatcher of the National Conference of State Legislatures has a handy map tracking reviews, executive orders, and other state actions with respect to the standards. Click here for the most recent version of that common-core map; a version of the map updated April 23 is below, with the key included:"
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Three states impacted by a widespread system crash with New Hampshire-based Measured Progress. Nevada, Montana and North Dakota contract with the company to administer the tests that are linked to hotly disputed, federally backed education standards.
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Nearly 200 colleges and universities in six states have agreed to let students skip remedial coursework if they reach the college-readiness score on the 2015 Smarter Balanced assessment
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Teaching Channel and Achieve.org partnered on a three-part series featuring EQuIP’s (Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products) tools for Common Core lesson planning.
Dr. Dea Conrad-Curry's curator insight,
April 17, 2015 9:36 PM
June 1st is the next deadline for submitting your unit or multi-day lesson to Achieve and have a chance to be awarded $1500.00. Check out the call for now--you may have the perfect lesson already designed!
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by Jayne Ellspermann "The Common Core standards make success accessible to all students by allowing them to demonstrate their learning based, not on their life experience, but what they read in the text. As a result, Carol, I cannot “blame the standards themselves” for the difficulties you and your colleagues in New York have experienced with Common Core implementation."
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"To make it absolutely clear, I should make it clear that I believe: a) The Common Core State Standards are more demanding than the standards being required for college- and career-readiness in the vast majority of leading nations; and b) The standards, while specified in greater detail than is customary in other countries, are appropriate given the current subject knowledge of teachers in the United States. In short, I support the current version of the standards in the strongest possible terms, and without reservation."
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Education News Affluent Opposed to Tests Parents in the wealthiest school districts are the ones behind the movement to boycott the state’s Common Core standardized exams, a new analysis shows.
Civil Rights Groups Fight To Retain NCLB Testing The Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal (4/11) reports that “tens of thousands” of New York students in grades 3-8 “and maybe more” will be opting out of taking Common Core-aligned math and English language arts tests, noting that a “parent-led effort...appears to have gained momentum in recent weeks.” The piece notes that the state DOE has threatened sanctions against districts “if participation rates on the exams are low.”
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You’d think this would be old news by now, right? I can’t think of an education company out there that doesn’t purport to have CCSS-aligned products. And yet just last month, EdWeek reported that 17 out of 20 math series that claimed to be aligned to Common Core still fail to live up to their…
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Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham answers the question. "These two facts—background knowledge is crucial to reading comprehension, and most elementary curricula are insufficiently focused on building background knowledge—are behind the emphasis on knowledge-building in the Common Core standards."
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School Cuts AP Testing Requirements, Passes As Many Students As Before. The Washington Post (4/27, Mathews) reports that Oregon’s Corbett Charter School, which the Post previously deemed one of the most challenging high schools in the US, has decided to take “the unusual step” of reducing AP offerings, “illuminating a controversy about how much challenge students in top schools need.” Corbett fell from one of the top 10 toughest schools to 41st this year because the school’s leader “softened” his approach to AP tests, which drive up the score for the rankings. Superintendent Bob Dunton said that the change came as seniors were “overwhelmed” by AP courses, often “against their wills,” which he said was “unlikely to produce positive results.” The school allowed students to opt out and take non-AP courses this year, but the school had as many passing exams as before and a record rate of passage.
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Below are links to slides from speaker presentations at recent conferences. You are free to download the slides for your reference. 2015 NCTM Annual
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If you’re currently teaching the Common Core ELA Standards, you’re already teaching students to think critically and to look at building their reading and writing skills in new ways.
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Handle tasks head-on to speed student success. By Christine Fax-Huckaby "As the Common Core State Standards have been implemented this school year, with many states in the midst of using the new standardized tests, the transition has been mired in challenges. The Common Core is a critical step toward ensuring students have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life beyond graduation, but teachers and students alike have been apprehensive and overwhelmed. They need greater support, more empathy, and better communication from school and district leaders to help them overcome their anxiety. This anxiety is even more prevalent in the special education community, and as a special education academic support teacher, it’s my job to make sure teachers and students in my district are as prepared for Common Core as possible. Here’s what’s working well in our district:"
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1. It diminishes the joy of reading. One of the things we love about reading is how layered the text is. If you don’t understand what’s going on in a text, it’s just less engaging. What practitioners have found is close reading can become as engaging as a video game, as students look at the vocabulary or patterns of words, at the structure and plot elements. It’s really that deep engagement that brings joy to the reading process. It becomes like a treasure hunt—in a good wa
Dr. Dea Conrad-Curry's curator insight,
April 24, 2015 1:04 PM
Appreciate this post. Indeed, the purposes of close reading dictate the way one close reads. If one is looking between texts, of course one reads beyond the four corners of the page (as some have come to call the text). And if one is reading for historical contextualization, of course background knowledge is essential. Actually, background knowledge is always essential...I can't read if I don't use what I know about the most simple word or grammatical structure/usage. Actually, we did close reading in my own school experience and even William Wordsworth comments on it in his 1798 poem, "The Tables Turned."
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ATLANTA (AP) — Thousands of students are opting out of new standardized tests aligned to the Common Core standards, defying the latest attempt by states to improve academic performance.
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The Common Core math standards say students need more than a textbook understanding of concepts like the Pythagorean theorem. So two Colorado teachers teamed up for a lesson in real-world math.
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Montana Superintendent Denise Juneau said it would be "in the best interest of our students" to let districts cancel Smarter Balanced testing if necessary.
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Such across-the-board, state-level higher education support for a set of K-12 standards makes history, certainly in California and quite likely in the nation. Even so, California is not alone in higher education in making a public commitment to the common core; the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and a new organization named Higher Ed for Higher Standards, among others, have signed on. The support seems to be growing, despite state and local politics around state standards and high-stakes assessments tied to accountability.
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Seven Strategies for Engaging Middle‑Schoolers in Complex Texts With all the changes happening in middle school students’ lives, keeping them engaged can be challenging. How can you help them stay focused to develop the strong analytical, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills required by the new standards? Our guide, Seven Strategies for Engaging Middle-Schoolers in Complex Texts, provides insight from curriculum and early adolescence experts on the best ways to help students develop close-reading skills: the ability to dig deeply into challenging texts, analyzing every detail and grasping both literal and inferential meanings. Download our guide to read the seven strategies and help students dig deeply into complex texts.
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From
stand
Two Arizona teachers share their thoughts on testing with new aligned assessments. Because [the new tests] are asking for a much higher level of thinking and application of skills, the only kind of instruction that can truly prep our students is really high-quality application and high-level teaching throughout the year, not a test prep two weeks before.
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