News Brief

Arizona Leaders Focus on Training Teachers for Common Core Standards

The Common Core Standards must be fully implemented in Arizona by the 2013-14 school year, and state leaders have unveiled a website to help teachers and the community understand and adhere to the standards. The Arizona Department of Education has held over 400 training sessions and trained more than 14,000 of the state's nearly 70,000 teachers so far. "As much training as the department has done so far, we've only scratched the surface," says Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal. About 75 percent of districts and charter schools have sent staff to training sessions, he says, and they will go back to their districts to train others. The department also will hold six Webinars a month that are open to all teachers. Since some school budgets already have been adopted and resources are scarce, Huppenthal notes that "partnerships are absolutely critical." State leaders are forging partnerships with groups like Expect More Arizona, the Center for the Future of Arizona, Intel, Rodel Foundation of Arizona, and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.