Current News

Jeff Roper, an English teacher at Declo High School in Declo, Idaho, discredits claims by critics that the Common Core State Standards initiative amounts to a federal takeover of local schools, stressing that the standards were created by state education departments, national business leaders, and an assortment of education experts, including teachers and national education reform leaders.

The New Mexico Public Education Department will implement an early warning system to help schools identify students at risk of dropping out.

Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius and Gov. Mark Dayton have approved the new social studies standards developed and unanimously approved by a committee of 46 K-12 and post-secondary educators, business and government representatives, and parents.

During the recent Teacher Leaders Kickoff Event, Louisiana Department of Education Superintendent John White said the state will provide teachers with more resources and greater flexibility to make individual changes to meet student needs.

The Kentucky Department of Education is among the state agencies and organizations to partner with the national nonprofit Hope Street Group to engage teachers in the implementation of the state's Professional Growth and Effectiveness System.

Six elementary schools in Georgia have been awarded $15,000 in start-up grants to support dual-language immersion programs next year, and State Superintendent of Schools John Barge says the state has set a goal of having 20 dual-immersion language programs by 2020.

Alaska has joined the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, says the State Department of Education and Early Development.

On Monday, April 22, CCSSO announced that Jeff Charbonneau, a 9-12th grade Chemistry, Physics and Engineering teacher in the state of Washington, is the 63rd National Teacher of the Year. Charbonneau, along with all 2013 State Teachers of the Year, will be recognized by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House, on Tuesday, April 23.

CCSSO and America’s Promise Alliance will host a webinar exploring ways that Expanded Learning Opportunities, like afterschool and summer school programs, can help students achieve under the Common Core State Standards.

According to a recent New York Times editorial, parents of New York students should not be nervous or angry about the assessments being used to assess Common Core achievement among students because they are meant to improve student reasoning skills.