America’s children continue to remain behind other nations in terms of academic achievement and preparedness to succeed. This according to the recent National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) report. That’s one reason why governors and state commissioners of education across the country are [...]
Common State Academic Standards
Posted 10 July 2009 by Leon Baranovsky
Tags: standards
Tags: standards
WASL to be Replaced by New State Schools Chief
The Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) was scheduled to become a requirement for high school graduation, but Randy Dorn, new chief of Washington state schools, this week announced plans to replace the WASL with a better, shorter, less expensive exam starting in 2010. WASL has been criticized as too expensive and unfair to minority [...]
Washington Science Standards Scrutinized
In 2008 only 39.7 percent of 10th graders passed the science section of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). In response, revised science standards for grades K-12 were recommended by a task force comprised of over 30 teachers and scientists. According to the new guidelines, all students should be able to accomplish: Systems thinking [...]
Three. Years. Old.
Three year olds are being pushed academically and are kicked out of pre-school for not being able to sit still. Three. Years. Old.“A preschool teacher demanded that a 3-year-old get tested for ADHD when he couldn’t sit still for the half-hour stretches required by his preschool.” I can barely sit still that long! An article [...]
Great Expectations, Great Results
Holding students to high standards and providing the support they need to succeed is a winning combination. The Washington Post profiles a program focused on helping average students. School leaders in Seaford, Del., had noticed for some time that very few average students took the most challenging courses in the town’s secondary schools. As was [...]
CA Math Standards are the Best!
Did you know that California’s state math standards are the best in the nation? Only three states scored an ‘A’ and another three a ‘B.’ This information coming from a Fordham Foundation study published January of 2005. While not qualifying as news, I came across this only today. California’s standards are excellent in every respect. [...]
School Succeeds with Focus on the Individual
A San Jose public school placed on a federal watch list for under performance has turned around. The key? An intense focus on “improving reading and shaping instruction to individual students’ needs.” The article in this Saturday’s San Jose Mercury News highlights how teachers are addressing their students’ varied needs. A focus on individual needs [...]
Back to Basics for Math
Via EdNews.org, comes a pointer to Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee writing about changes in math instruction proposed by the National Council of Mathematics Teachers. In essence, the national organization is adopting changes already in place in California; changes that emphasize a back-to-basics approach. We Americans used to understand the concept of educational progression [...]
