Tag Archives: Common Core
Teacher Professional Development Done Right
Today I have had the great pleasure of attending STEM: Innovation Forum 2015 in Portland, Maine. The forum was sponsored by the Perloff Family Foundation, the University of Southern Maine, the Maine Community Foundation, and the Maine Space Grant Consortium. The forum was offered free of charge to educators in the state. The day-long program […]
Shhh – testing! What is standardized testing doing to your school?
Since I work in more than one school I am referred to in my district as an ‘itinerant teacher.’ The result is that I have an unusually wide lens through which to view school culture and events. What I have observed lately is that the happening thing this spring in every school I visit – or hear […]
My child – and yours – deserves an education equal to that of any other child in the state!
Education in the state of Maine is currently consumed by the transition to standards-based curriculum. In Maine, local districts are focused on creating graduation standards and aligning curriculum to those standards. Lots of time on the part of teachers, administrators, and school board members is being spent on this transition. We all know that time […]
Common Core shines light on Santa
The Common Core should be treated by school districts as the draft of a guide for curriculum development rather than as a blueprint. During the next few years, as we try and implement the standards outlined in the draft, the need for revisions will become clear. Common Core standards for the early years of schooling, for […]
Bringing out the best in children
As I was walking down Church Hill today the potential of our nation torpedoed toward and then past me in the form of a vigorous 8 year-old girl. Her feet pounded the pavement, her wide golden eyes locked with mine, and then she was gone. “Who knows?” I thought. “Maybe that girl will do humankind […]
Half-baked Common Core
Some believe the Common Core will help improve education in this country; others do not. Elizabeth Green, in Why Do Americans Stink at Math? falls into the latter category, and so do I. Even if we could agree that the standards of the Common Core were developmentally appropriate, worthy of implementation, and sensible in every way, it […]
Common Core Will Not Cure All
My chief criticism of the Common Core at this point is that it is being touted as a cure-all for our nation’s educational problems, but in fact it will not cure all. Mediocre teachers implementing the Common Core within the context of our current mediocre schools will only produce mediocre learning outcomes in students. What we […]
Principals Should Focus on Instructional Leadership
Gordon Donaldson and George Marnik’s The Maine Principal Study reports that school leaders in our state devote relatively little time to initiating educational programs, evaluating curriculum, collecting student data, and other activities directly aimed at improving learning outcomes in students. The principal’s job is so demanding in other areas that it is challenging for […]
The Common Core Rollout: Lessons from New York
New York did not prepare its teachers well for its Common Core rollout and as a result suffered miserable results in terms of student growth. Other states – including my own state, Maine – should learn from New York’s mistakes. We are not as far along as New York in implementing the Common Core so […]