Current News

Minneapolis Star Tribune (08/30/12) McGuire, Kim; Brandt, Steve Minnesota officials announced that 213 schools would be subject to new state Multiple Measurement Ranking (MMR) labels and corrective actions. These schools were listed as underperforming and will receive federal Title I money to address higher levels of poverty. Schools received one of five designations: Reward, Celebration, Continuous Improvement, Focus, and Priority.

In Maryland, the new school year marks the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Most school districts are incorporating the new reading and math standards into existing lessons, rather than buy new textbooks, and some smaller counties are working together to write a new curriculum.

Louisiana students and teachers will face news ways of learning and teaching as the state implements the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in its curriculum. State Superintendent of Education John White says, "It represents a significant shift of what we are expecting of students and teachers. It's more rigorous on one hand and representative of basic skills, on the other hand." The new standards will be implemented first in English language arts/literacy and mathematics, with a full assessment of how students are performing under the new standards in the 2014-15 school year.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear recently signed an executive order that will reform the state's career and technical education (CTE) system and unite the two CTE systems under the State Department of Education to ensure they are more unified and efficient. "Bringing the Office of Career and Technical Education into the Kentucky Department of Education is an excellent move.

The Solano County Office of Education (SCOE) in California is working hard to prepare educators for the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in the 2014-15 school year. SCOE has partnered with Pearson to provide training to teachers and administrators, with intensive training on the new math standards held Aug. 20-21 and additional training sessions on both the math and English-language arts standards slated for September and October.

The Arizona Department of Education and Native American tribes helped create a recently adopted policy to enable certified Native language speakers to teach their Native languages in Arizona classrooms. The Native American Language Certification Policy already is being used by the Navajo Nation, and other Native American tribes are developing proficiency assessments to take part in the initiative.

To provide all states with quick access to sample practices they can quickly and easily use, CCSSO has compiled examples of state Common Core implementation work in three keys areas: system alignment and systems change; educator supports; and communication and engagement tools.

In December 2011, CCSSO welcomed 12 esteemed colleagues of research and practitioner backgrounds into a Research and Development (R&D) Advisory committee intended to help guide CCSSO's research efforts. Comprised of diverse experts within educational research, development, and practitioner communities, the R&D Advisory has been instrumental in helping to design the nature of CCSSO's involvement within the educational research ecosystem. They continue to provide guidance to CCSSO's research activities and recommend opportunities for CCSSO to bridge research and practice.

On June 14-17, 2012, representatives from CCSSO's Innovation Lab Network traveled to Helsinki, Finland, to join delegations from around the world in the Global Education Leaders Program (GELP). There, they explored, discussed, and learned from each other's transformational journeys toward 21st century education.

Next Generation Learning Challenges, an initiative dedicated to improving college readiness and completion, today announced $4.5 million in grants for comprehensive new secondary school and college models that use technology to reach targets for affordability and student success.