Specialists Weigh Common Social Studies Standards
Education Week (June 25, 2011)
By Catherine Gewertz



Social studies specialists from 18 states and officials of 15 social studies organizations gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina, to discuss next steps for standards.  Some educators and state department officials would like to discuss the possibility of Common Core State Standards for social studies.


Developing standards for social studies has created controversy at the state level, so some organizations and educators are skeptical that 'common standards' would ever be adopted by all 50 states, or even a majority of the states.  For more information on the history of social studies and the standards movement, visit The Social Studies Wars, Now and Then.


Add Comment
 
 
Top Ten Ways to Get Ready for the Common Core
The Leadership and Learning Center Blog

Dr. Douglas Reeves shares a Top Ten list for preparing for the Common Core Standards. 

What is your school district doing to prepare?  Do you have additional recommendations for supporting teachers and administrators?
Add Comment
 
 
The Brookings Institution posted a special advanced release of a Brown Center report on NAEP and the Common Core standards. The full version of the 2010 Brown Center Report on American Education will be published at a later date.
 
NAEP and the Common Core Standards
By Tom Loveless
The Broookings Institution
January 11, 2011

"Unlike most countries, the United States does not have national education standards, no single set of expectations for what all American teachers should teach and all American students should learn. It never has. A question that the rest of the world considers foundational to its national school systems—deciding the content of the curriculum—sits in the hands of local authorities. That is because the United States has 50 state school systems. Heterogeneity extends to the deepest levels of schooling. Even students transferring from one teacher to another within the same school may, as a consequence, learn a different curriculum than their former classmates."

1 Comment
 
 
Now Comes the Hard Part
E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Posted to the Core Knowledge Blog on Sept. 27, 2010

In the past, I have found very few things that E.D. Hirsch and I agree on when it comes to education.  However, this post on the Core Knowledge Blog caught my attention.  If you are following the Common Core Standards, this article provides additional food for thought.  Hirsch wrote, "Any discussion of the new Common Core State Standards must begin with a clear understanding of what the standards do and do not say.....The content that teachers teach and children learn is 'curriculum.'  Standards and curriculum are not the same thing."

Turning to National Standards
Douglas Reeves
ASCD Express
January 21, 2010

Reeves describes a process for educators as they begin to discuss professional development and implementation of the Common Core Standards.  He wrote, "Moreover, any state competing for the more than $4 billion in Race to the Top funds must demonstrate that its political, educational, and legislative officials support national standards. For now, the central question for most people is, "What are the national standards, and how do we get ready for them?"  This edition of ASCD Express also provides additional viewpoints on national standards.

Debating the Common Core State Standards
PublicSquare.net
Neal McCluskey, Cato Institute and
Michael Petrille, Fordham Institute
September 7, 2010

Will the standards cause the same problems at the federal level that common standards have brought in various states? Two education experts weigh in.


What are your thoughts about the implementation of Common Core Standards?

Add Comment
 
 
How many states have adopted the Common Core Standards?

Visit:
Common Core Standards Adoption by State
ASCD

States' identification as having adopted the Common Core State Standards is based on official announcements by state departments of education or published stories in reputable news sources from within the particular state.

http://www.corestandards.org/in-the-states
Common Core Standards - Official Site
Adoption By State Map

 
Add Comment
 
 
Press Release
Today, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released a set of state-led education standards, the Common Core State Standards, at Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, GA. The English-language arts and mathematics standards for grades K-12 were developed in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders including content experts, states, teachers, school administrators and parents. The standards establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America’s children for success in college and work. 

Click here to view the full press release.

Related Stories:

Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officer, testifies at a hearing about Improving Our Competitiveness: Common Core Education Standards on December 8, 2009. (YouTube)

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan congratulates Kentucky on being the first state to accept the Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and mathematics on Februrary 17, 2010. (YouTube)

Common Core State Standards Initiative
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1 Comment
 
 
Picture
On March 10, 2010, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) released the official draft of the K-12 Common Core State Standards, which will be open to public comment until April 2. The process of developing these standards has been state led by the governors and chief state school officers in 48 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia, with input from a wide range of stakeholders- including educators, researchers, content experts, national organizations, and community groups.

The standards cover mathematics, English-language arts, and briefly, literacy in history, social studies and science and lay out grade-level specific goals, as well as college- and career- readiness standards. The CCSSO and NGA Center have said that once these standards are finalized, they will develop a set of common core standards in science and potentially other subject areas.

The standards are based on the following criteria:

• aligned with college and work expectations;

• clear, understandable and consistent;

• include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;

• build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;

• informed by other top performing countries;

• and evidence-and research-based.

National standards and college- and career- readiness have been an ongoing theme across the current initiatives of this administration, including Race to the Top, the ESEA rewrite, and within the President’s budget. While the Obama administration did not have a role in the drafting of the standards, both the President and Secretary Arne Duncan have avidly pushed for the development of a common, higher set of standards as part of an overall education reform agenda.

“We will end what has become a race to the bottom in our schools and instead spur a race to the top by encouraging better standards and assessments… And I'm calling on our nation's governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity.”
                                                - President Barack Obama, March 10, 2009

While adoption of the Common Core Standards is voluntary for states, qualification for the $4 billion Race to the Top fund is heavily tied to the development and implementation of national standards. Also, with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization hearings currently underway, the Department of Education has indicated that it would like to see a set of national standards included in the rewrite.

The full set of documents, (70 pages of math standards and 60 pages of English-language arts standards), are posted at www.corestandards.org.  The deadline for public input is April 2, 2010.

What are your thoughts on the Draft of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English?

Source:
http://trianglecoalition.blogspot.com/2010/03/common-core-state-standards-draft.html
1 Comment
 
 
One Country, One Set of Standards
The Tech Online Edition - MIT's oldest and largest newspaper
By Ryan Normandin
February 12, 2010

K-12 Curriculum Development has followed the Common Core State Standards Initiative, Race to the Top, and the development of common standards for the past year.  This brief article may be the most informative and well written article posted to date. 

Excerpt:
"Therefore, there exist two major problems with state-determined standards. The first is their very nature — all American citizens should be learning the same thing and be held to the same standards. The disconnects that exist between states’ own standards are astonishing and are harming students nationwide. The second issue is the quality of the standards created by individual states. In order to meet federal mandates, obtain certain funds, and look good, states are lowering the bar in public education. And that is unacceptable."                 -  Ryan Normandin
Add Comment
 
 
Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
By Antoinette Konz
February 9, 2010

On February 10, Kentucky will become the first state in the nation to endorse the “Common Core State Standards Initiative,” during a meeting of officials from the state Department of Education; the Council on Postsecondary Education, which coordinates the state’s higher education system; and the state’s Education Professional Standards Board, which certifies that state’s teachers and school administrators.
2 Comments
 
 
The Washington Post
January 27, 2010

President Obama on Education in State of the Union: 'We only reward success'....

View text from the State of the Union Address Which Discussed Race to the Top and other Education Reform Initiatives at http://bit.ly/9Weaa5

State of the Union Address - CNN
"In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education." - President Obama (State of the Union Address)
Add Comment