http://www.heinemann.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=39 Teacher's Lounge - Start Your Own Discussion Thread - 1st Draft of Common Core Standards now available! - Messages en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jitbit AspNetForum Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:28:09 GMT Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:28:09 GMT http://www.heinemann.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=39 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). This state-led effort includes the District of Columbia and 48 out of the 50 United States – only Alaska and Texas have declined to join the initiative.

The official Website for the CCSSI is www.corestandards.org.

As described by the Council of Chief State School Officers:
"These common standards will bring about real and meaningful transformation of our education system to benefit all students. The Common Core State Standards Initiative will be research- and evidence-based and will be aligned with college and work expectations, include rigorous content and skills, and be internationally benchmarked. States will adopt the Common Core State Standards Initiative through a process that will respect unique state contexts and states’ right to set standards."

The first standards to be addressed by this initiative are English language arts and mathematics for grades K-12. The first draft of the K-12 Common Core Standards was released on March 10, 2010 and is available for public review and feedback until April 2, 2010.

According to http://www.corestandards.org - the official Website of the CCSSI - the final approved standards will be:
- Aligned with college and work expectations
- Clear, understandable and consistent
- Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills
- Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards
- Informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society
- Evidence-based

So far the response of the K-12 teaching community to the Common Core State Standards Initiative varies greatly from state-to-state and even district-to-district. Some of the ongoing online discussions about the CCSSI include:
- National Center for Technology in Education: http://ncte2008.ning.com/forum/topics/k12-common-core-standards
- The Washington Post: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/national-standards/the-problems-with-the-common-c.html
- The EducatedGuess blog: http://educatedguess.org/blog/2010/01/17/common-core-standards-under-fire/
- The Innovative Educator blog: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/03/they-here-common-core-standards.html]]> Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:28:09 GMT