When students take the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), they tackle questions related to vocabulary, reading comprehension, math, science and social studies, according to The Riverside Publishing Company’s website. Based on the results of these assessments, teachers get to see how their students are performing and which individuals may be in need of additional instruction.
This is the case with the Clarinda Community School District in Iowa, where scores from the ITBS and Iowa Assessments were used to figure out which students needed to participate in the District’s summer school program, the Clarinda Herald-Journal reported. In total, about 15 pupils from each grade level will take classes between May 30 and June 28.
"I’m excited about the progress that is going to be made in their learning," Gary McNeal, Clarinda’s Middle School principal, told the news source. "It’s a way to help catch up kids who have gaps in their learning for whatever reason."
Students who are selected for the summer program will have to attend classes at Clarinda Middle School two times a week for three hours a day.
Currently, just over 200 teachers from across Tennessee are participating in leadership training sessions on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), according to the Tennessee Department of Education. Using the knowledge they gain, these educators will then lead sessions for more than 11,000 instructors throughout the state this summer.
More than 400 teachers took part in a rigorous application process so they could have a chance at becoming a Core Coach. In the end, 205 of these instructors were selected by the Common Core Leadership Council, which is comprised of the 13 state educators who are overseeing Tennessee’s transition to the CCSS.
"This is an exciting moment for Tennessee as we take the important concepts of the Common Core State Standards directly to classroom teachers where they will have the biggest impact for children," said Emily Barton, the Department’s assistant commissioner for curriculum and instruction.
In the next academic year, schools across Tennessee will adjust their third- through eighth-grade math curriculum so it is aligned with the CCSS. Then, during the 2013-2014 academic year, students will be introduced to the Common Core’s new English Standards.
Both students and their parents in the unincorporated U.S. territory of Guam have spent recent days preparing for the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10). This is due to the fact that from April 30 through May 11, schools on the island will be administering the Test to roughly 30,000 students, the Pacific Daily News reported.
Using the results of the SAT-10, teachers and parents will be able to see how students throughout Guam are progressing academically, according to the territory’s Department of Education (DoE). The Test is offered in a multiple-choice format, with subtests focused on reading, language, spelling, listening, social science, mathematics and science.
As the SAT-10 can be beneficial to the quality of instruction offered in Guam’s classrooms, the DoE has called on parents to help prepare their children for the two weeks of testing they will face.
For starters, the DoE has asked parents to make sure their children get a good night’s sleep, as the SAT-10 is administered in the morning. As a result, parents will also want to make sure their kids get to school on time and eat a good breakfast. Furthermore, students should know how to relax before and during the Test to ensure they are not under stress.
Currently, students in schools across Louisiana follow the state’s Comprehensive Curriculum. This will change come the 2014-2015 academic year when the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) must be fully implemented, the Bastrop Daily Enterprise reported.
In addition to equipping students with knowledge that is aligned with college and work expectations, the CCSS’ website states that the Standards will combine basic instruction with a focus on the real-world application of the skills they gain in the classroom. For example, at the high school level, students will be required to apply mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges.
For any educators, parents or students who are confused about what the real-world application of classroom topics will be like, David Nordman, the Morehouse Parish Schools’ secondary curriculum superintendent, provided the news source with an example.
"If I give you a basic multiplication or division problem, you would give a standard answer," Nordman said. "If I give you an actual problem that identifies so many square feet to build a fence and a certain amount of money to do it, that’s a real-world application."
Currently, students enrolled in institutions within the Concordia Parish School District are trying to tackle too many subjects in class, said Rhonda Wilson, president of the Concordia Parish School Board, according to The Natchez Democrat. However, the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is expected to provide a solution to the problem these Louisiana schools face.
"The Common Core gets us to slow down and teach a limited number of things, but make sure they understand those before moving on," said Wilson, as quoted by the news source.
Members of the School Board recently assembled for two presentations on the CCSS, and what they will mean for the quality of education students receive in the District. This coming fall, kindergartners and first-graders will adhere to a curriculum that is completely aligned with the Common Core. Meanwhile, students in the second grade through high school will still be in a transitional period, according to the news outlet.
While students may tackle fewer topics during the school year, the knowledge and skills they do acquire are considered to be essential for success in college and beyond. According to the Common Core's website, the CCSS are clear, consistent, evidence-based and realistic and build on the strengths of current Standards.
Currently, the California Standards Tests (CST), a part of the California STAR Testing Program, are on the minds of many students and teachers across the state. Every spring, second- through eleventh-graders prepare for and take the CST, which assess their knowledge of reading, writing, history, science and mathematics, according to the California Department of Education.
Taking the CST is not likely to be students’ favorite activity, so officials at Miguel Hidalgo Elementary School in Brawley treated them to a day of watery fun, the Imperial Valley Press reported. The outdoor event is organized every year to motivate students for the CST and celebrate their achievements from the previous year. Since its inception, the day of fun has become a part of the School’s culture.
This year, students were recognized for their academic performance at a morning ceremony, which was then followed by water activities in the playground. The pupils will take the CST over the course of six consecutive weeks beginning on May 7.
"We have big expectations for all of them," Celia Santana, Miguel Hidalgo’s principal, told the news outlet. "We made a lot of growth last year and we want to continue to meet our goals."
Between 1980 and 2009, the number of school-age children who spoke a language other than English at home increased from 4.7 to 11.2 million, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. With so many students considered to be English language learners (ELLs), it is expected that some of these youths may have some difficulty meeting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
To help ELLs keep up with native speakers, Oxford University Press will introduce two new vocabulary-based education tools – the Oxford Illustrated Math Dictionary and the Oxford Illustrated Science Dictionary. These texts, which are designed for middle and high school math and science students, feature terms that are critical to ELLs’ understanding of these topics.
"Based upon our conversation with educators, it was clear there was a real need for tools to help ELLs achieve in the areas of math and science," said Laura Pearson, general manager of Oxford's American English Language Teaching Group.
The books are the result of a collaboration between Oxford University Press and math and science experts. Teachers and students who work with the new resources will find the Illustrated Science Dictionary contains more than 700 terms, while the Illustrated Math Dictionary features over 500.
In addition to schools across the country, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is also having an effect on publishers of children's books. Among these companies is Kingfisher, a part of the Macmillan publishing group.
Publishers Weekly reported that the widespread adoption of the CCSS influenced Kingfisher to introduce a new line of illustrated children’s books. The titles in the Kingfisher Readers series are available in five different levels and are designed to capture the interest of young learners.
"By the summer of 2011, most states had adopted these curriculum standards, which demand that 50 percent of the text students encounter in the classroom in grades K-5 is informational text," Brian Buerkle, associate publisher and director of marketing at Kingfisher, told the news source.
Buerkle views schools’ adoption of the CCSS as an "immense opportunity" for Kingfisher and other publishers. Between 20 and 30 Kingfisher Readers titles will be published each year.
According to the Kingfisher Readers website, book levels one through five are designed for children who are beginning to read; beginning to read alone; reading alone with some help; reading alone; and reading fluently, respectively.
Technological skills are an essential part of the Framework for 21st Century Learning, according to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website. As a result, many schools are looking to introduce high tech software and devices in their classrooms to help students acquire the knowledge they will need to excel throughout life.
Recently, the Idaho State Department of Education announced a partnership with digital resource provider Discovery Education that will provide classrooms throughout the state with new technology, the Teton Valley News reported.
"This partnership is part of our continued efforts to transform every classroom into a 21st century classroom that will give every teacher in every school and every student in every classroom equal access to the best educational opportunities," said Tom Luna, superintendent of public instruction, as quoted by the news source.
Following a rigorous review process, state education officials selected Discovery Education as the provider of the technological resources, according to the news source. Through this collaboration, teachers and students will be able to use Discovery Education Streaming Plus. This program connects them to a digital library of more than 200,000 interactive resources that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
The Iowa City Community School District recently released the results of the Iowa Assessments, which third- through eleventh-graders took last October, KCRG reported. Based on students’ scores, they did not perform as well as they had in previous years on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), which the Assessments have replaced.
According to the news source, the District typically ranked between the low 70s and 90s. However, the recent results reveal that student scores were mostly between the 50s and 70s. While these numbers are lower than usual, there are a few reasons why this may have occurred.
Pam Ehly, the District’s director of curriculum, told the news outlet that the fact that students were taking a new test was one reason why scores were low. Another was that the Iowa Assessments are normative, which means that test takers are compared to one another and responses are re-normed.
Overall, Ehly and the District’s superintendent are pleased with the first set of results from the Iowa Assessments.
The District’s third- through eleventh-graders were tested on a variety of subjects, such as reading, vocabulary, math, science, social studies and computation, according to The University of Iowa’s website.
Since 1998, March 2 has been Read Across America Day, thanks to the National Education Association. In order to help students perform better on California STAR Testing Program assessments, the state will take things one step further with the establishment of Read Across California Month.
After students in California finish reading along with the rest of the country on March 2, they will take a pledge to continue reading 30 minutes for 30 days.
In 2009, roughly 54 percent of fourth-graders and 64 percent of eighth-graders who were tested scored at or above California’s basic reading level, according to the Nation’s Report Card. Unfortunately, these numbers are still below the averages for both grade levels across the country.
Furthermore, results from the 2010 California Standards Tests showed that 52 percent of students in grades two through eleven were considered to be proficient in English language arts.
However, supporters of Read Across California Month hope that this initiative will have a positive impact on the state’s literacy rate, while also fostering a greater interest in books among the state’s youth.
As teachers prepare to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), they may find themselves participating in a learning session similar to the one that was recently held for educators at Monticello High School in New York.
During this training session, Kate Gerson, a senior fellow with the Regents Research Fund, spoke to teachers about the new Standards they will soon adhere to in their classrooms, the Times Herald-Record reported. Gerson was joined by Ken Slentz, New York’s associate education commissioner for district services.
Once the CCSS is fully implemented, New York teachers will be required to create lesson plans that are aligned with the Common Core, according to the news source. When assembling these plans, Gerson advised instructors to ask themselves a series of questions.
"It's about: 'What am I trying to teach here? Why did I choose this text?' And keeping you focused on it," Gerson said at a recent session, as quoted by the news outlet.
Ultimately, the CCSS will help students dig deeper and gain a better understanding of what they are learning about in class. For instance, when it comes to reading, pupils will be expected to gain insights and broaden their perspective as they work through required texts, according to the Common Core’s website.
The Chicago Public Schools’ website states that students who attend classes at these institutions spend 15 percent less time learning than the average public school student in the U.S. To rectify this situation, several city schools volunteered to extend their academic day by 90 minutes.
Some time has passed since this education initiative began, and principals at the 13 pioneer schools recently reported that they are seeing results, according to a piece they wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times. Furthermore, they believe the longer school day will better prepare students for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which will be introduced next year.
The principals wrote that the longer school day has provided their educators with the time they need to teach students important subjects, such as math, reading and science. Once the CCSS are fully introduced, the additional class time will also be useful in ensuring that pupils have all of the skills they will require for success in college and beyond.
Overall, the schools are working with an additional 110 hours of class time, which is the equivalent of 22 extra days of instructional time, according to the news source.
On June 22, 2010, Maryland adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Now, like many other academic institutions across the country, middle schools in Howard County are making curricular changes to better align with the CCSS, Elkridge, Maryland’s Patch website reported.
For instance, the news source stated that all 19 Howard County middle schools will now feature the same daily schedule – seven fifty-minute periods. As each class will gain an additional five minutes, teachers will be able to devote more time to core subjects.
To properly align with the CCSS, the schools extended the amount of time students spend in physical education class, and made world language instruction mandatory for sixth-graders, according to the news outlet. However, in order to create room in the schedule, the schools had to eliminate formal reading classes.
With this change, three years of reading instruction will be reduced to two quarters, the news source reported.
However, the development of strong reading skills is still a major focus of the Common Core. According to the CCSS’ website, students will read a range of written works, including classic mythology, U.S. documents and the writings of William Shakespeare.
While the transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has proved a challenge for some schools, Community Unit School District 200 in Illinois is on track to have a portion of the CCSS in place by 2013, Wheaton, Illinois’ Patch website reported.
District officials began mapping out the transition to the Common Core in the fall of 2011, according to the news source. In order for students to benefit from the new Standards, some teachers and principals from the District completed training at the end of last year, with a new round of sessions set to start in February.
These efforts will help ensure that the Common Core’s math Standards are in place by 2013, with those in English language arts set to follow by 2014, the news outlet stated.
With the math Standards in place, students in lower grades will receive a solid foundation in concepts that will better prepare them for more complex procedures later in their academic careers, states the CCSS’ website. Meanwhile, English classes will use what is referred to as a "staircase" approach to reading. As texts grow increasingly complex, students will gain the reading skills needed for college and the workforce.
On August 2, 2010, California adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), according to the initiative’s website. To help California teachers transition to these new Standards, the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) has launched a new application (app) that instructors can access using their smartphones.
The SCOE’s eStandards Web app is free, and instantly connects K-12 teachers and administrators to the CCSS. Educators who download this program onto their mobile device will have the ability to make sure their English and math lessons are aligned with the Common Core.
"We are always looking for new and better ways to help our teachers," said David W. Gordon, Sacramento County superintendent of schools. "It is our hope that this California Common Core resource will help teachers and curriculum specialists better apply the Standards in their daily lessons."
Sue Stickel, deputy superintendent of schools, added that the information the app provides will also help teachers, students and their parents better understand the CCSS. The simple, yet informative app has been optimized to run on both iOS and Android smartphones.
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been established to ensure that the education K-12 students receive is clear, consistent and aligned with college and work expectations, according to the initiative’s website.
Thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ConvergeUS, the nonprofit arm of TechNet, will be able to research the CCSS. Using this funding, ConvergeUS will learn how states’ adoption of the Common Core will strengthen the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. economy, prepare students for emerging sectors and promote innovation in education. TechNet is dedicated to leveraging technology to advance social innovation.
"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the gold standard when it comes to organizations working to improve public education in America," said Patrick Gusman, executive director of ConvergeUS. "This grant will help us facilitate improved uses of technology to enhance our education system."
TechNet’s research will lead to the creation of a white paper, which will also contain insight into business leaders’ views on education, technology and the workforce. Using this information, ConvergeUS can develop outreach activities to encourage and support the adoption of the CCSS.
Over the next two years, students at Ledyard Middle School in Connecticut will be introduced to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Ledyard’s Patch website reported. School officials recently held a presentation that was designed to familiarize parents with the type of education their children will soon be receiving.
During the presentation, Holly Miller, the Ledyard Public Schools district language arts consultant, spoke about a few of the changes parents and students can expect in English class, the news source stated. For instance, there will be a greater balance between fiction and non-fiction texts, as well as an increased focus on writing evidence-based arguments.
In addition, Joe Chella, the Middle School’s principal, spoke to parents about the ways in which the CCSS will reshape math education. According to Chella, math classes will promote the development of critical thinking skills by focusing more on speed and accuracy.
"We won’t just ask students to solve the problem," Chella said, as quoted by the news outlet. "We will ask them to create the problem, then solve it."
According to a statement that was released to coincide with Connecticut’s adoption of the CCSS on July 7, 2010, the new Standards are very similar to those already in place in the state.
After students earn their high school diploma, they have the option of continuing their education in college or entering the workforce. No matter what choice they make, they will be prepared for the next phase of their life thanks to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
According to the CCSS’ website, the knowledge and skills that are provided by these Standards will prepare students for the courses they will take in college, as well as entry-level positions and workforce training programs.
John Battista, assistant superintendent of schools for the Monroe Public Schools district, told Monroe, Connecticut’s Patch website that the Standards will help high school graduates earn a living wage, should they decide to begin their career following their graduation.
"Students need to be college and career ready," Battista told the news source. "Some of our students may choose to enter the world of work and we want them to be ready."
According to the news outlet, a majority of the students who graduate from the district’s Masuk High School choose to enroll in college or technical schools, while some look for work instead.
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