News Brief
Common-Core Rollout in Big Cities Probed in New Report
Education Week (01/25/13) Robelen, Erik W.In a recent report from the Council of the Great City Schools, about 87 percent of 36 urban school districts said they would have the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) fully implemented by the 2014-15 school year. The rest, except for one, will have CCSS fully implemented the following year. About 25 percent of the school districts say they expect to reach full implementation this school year, though rollout of CCSS seems to be roughly the same between math and English/language arts. Meanwhile, nearly 67 percent of districts say between 61 percent and 100 percent of curriculum staff have sufficient knowledge of the standards to discuss classroom instruction implications. Additionally, districts say elementary students have been exposed sooner to the new standards for English/language arts and mathematics than those at the middle and high school level. As for teacher training, the most common professional development priorities in urban districts were for English, building a shared understanding of the common core among staff, using rich informational texts to build background knowledge, building students' academic vocabulary, and teaching complex texts using close reading analysis. For math, the priorities were building a shared understanding of the common core among staff, building students' deep understanding of math concepts, understanding learning progressions across grade levels, and helping students apply math concepts to real-world situations. The least emphasized priorities were integrating technology in the classroom, linking writing across content areas, and differentiating instruction for students with disabilities.
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