Prioritizing the Common Core


Book Description

The consensus among educators nationwide is that in-depth instruction paired with focused assessment of essential concepts and skills are far more effective than superficially covering every concept and skill in the standards. Educators are faced with the task of teaching all standards while meeting the extraordinary range of student learning needs. Prioritizing the Common Core offers common sense solutions to the dilemmas teachers face today in implementing the new, more rigorous national standards. Chapters present a rationale for prioritizing the Common Core, a step-by-step process for prioritizing standards in language arts and mathematics, strategies for soliciting feedback and input from everyone in the district or school prior to the final determination of the Priority Standards, and detailed summaries of the process schools in six different districts used to identify their Priority Standards, with accompanying commentary by those who directed the work.




Leading the Common Core Initiative


Book Description

Defining both the Common Core Standards and the school librarian's role in their implementation, this book offers ready-to-use lesson plans and other tools for grades K–5 and identifies opportunities for collaborative teaching. As elementary schools in nearly all 50 states are faced with meeting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), school librarians need to understand the challenges and have lesson plans ready to help. This resource introduces the CCSS in English and mathematics to K–5 librarians and aides, helping them to understand the concepts, analyzing the impact on the school library, and providing lesson plans, resources, and other tools for implementation in integrated instruction with other curricula and collaborative teaching with other elementary teachers. Based upon the authors' own experiences in adopting the CCSS in their school, the included exemplar lesson plans and ideas are designed to support school librarians as they begin to collaborate with teachers in using the Common Core Standards in their daily classroom instruction. The book also discusses the opportunities for advocacy that result from the librarian's instrumental role in implementing the CCSS, both as a staff developer and a collaborative partner teacher.




Leading the Common Core State Standards


Book Description

Transform your school using proven core curriculum practices Many educators agree that we already know how to foster student success, so what is keeping common sense from becoming common practice? The author provides step-by-step guidance for overcoming the barriers to adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and achieving equity and excellence for all students. As an experienced teacher and principal, Cheryl Dunkle is well versed in staff members′ perspectives and gives school leaders valuable tools for fostering the teacher and parent buy-in needed to put the CCSS into practice. This practical guide shows leaders how to implement the CCSS, which will ultimately result in continuous quality improvement in schools. Leading the Common Core State Standards addresses these key issues and more: Communicating the CCSS to teachers and parents and attaining their buy-in Transitioning schools and districts to align with the CCSS Determining which teaching and learning practices need to change Garnering resources and support for reforms Many timesaving and supportive professional learning resources are provided, including guiding questions, an annotated bibliography, and a list of helpful references. These tools equip leaders to create collaborative structures and a climate of trust for sharing professional expertise and expanding the capacity of every staff member. There are no effective "quick fixes" in education. However, the steps outlined in this book will put you, your staff, and your students on a common-sense path to success.




Using Common Core Standards to Enhance Classroom Instruction & Assessment


Book Description

Discover how to weave an in-depth understanding of the Common Core into successful classroom practice with this two-part resource. You’ll learn how to power the standards with guided assessment and measure student progress in a way that accurately reflects learning. Included are hundreds of ready-to-use, research-based proficiency scales for both English language arts and mathematics.




Navigating the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards


Book Description

Most states have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as the basis for evaluating their students. This handbook will help teachers and administrators sort through the English Language Arts standards and focus on the key components of the CCSS. This is the second of a four-book series that started with Navigating Implementation of CCSS. The third handbook is Navigating Mathematics CCSS and the fourth is Navigating Assessment and Collaboration with the CCSS.




Between the State and the Schoolhouse


Book Description

Between the State and the Schoolhouse examines the Common Core State Standards from the initiative's promising beginnings to its disappointing outcomes. Situating the standards in the long history of state and federal efforts to shape education, the book describes a series of critical lessons that highlight the political and structural challenges of large-scale, top-down reforms. Education policy expert Tom Loveless argues that there are too many layers between the state and the classroom for a national standards approach to be effective. Specifically, he emphasizes the significant gap between states' roles in designing education policy and teachers' roles as implementers of policy. In addition, he asserts that top-down policies are unpredictable, subject to political and ideological pressures, and vulnerable to the pendulum effect as new reforms emerge in response to previous ones. One of the most ambitious education reforms of the past century, the Common Core aimed to raise student success, prepare larger numbers of students for both college and careers, and close achievement gaps. Yet, as Loveless documents, a decade later there remains a lack of significant positive impact on student learning. Between the State and the Schoolhouse marks an important contribution to the debate over the standards movement and the role of federal and state governments in education reform.




Creating Standards-Based Integrated Curriculum


Book Description

In this completely revised and updated edition of Susan Drake's classic text on integrated curriculum, the author provides a new approach to standards-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment.




Common Core


Book Description

How the Common Core standardizes our kids’ education—and how it threatens our democracy. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is one of the most controversial pieces of education policy to emerge in decades. Detailing what and when K–12 students should be taught, it has led to expensive reforms and displaced other valuable ways to educate children. In this nuanced and provocative book, Nicholas Tampio argues that, though national standards can raise the education bar for some students, the democratic costs outweigh the benefits. To make his case, Tampio describes the history, philosophy, content, and controversy surrounding the Common Core standards for English language arts and math. He also explains and critiques the Next Generation Science Standards, the Advanced Placement US History curriculum framework, and the National Sexuality Education Standards. Though each set of standards has admirable elements, Tampio asserts that democracies should disperse education authority rather than entrust one political or pedagogical faction to decide the country’s entire philosophy of education. Ultimately, this lively and accessible book presents a compelling case that the greater threat to democratic education comes from centralized government control rather than from local education authorities.




InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards


Book Description

These new model core teaching standards outline what all teachers across all content and grade levels should know and be able to do to be effective in today's learning contexts. They are a revision of the 1992 model standards, in response to the need for a new vision of teaching to meet the needs of next generation learners. This document incorporates changes from a public feedback period in July 2010.