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Common Core Initiative Support Services
Our standards experts can help your state or district make the transition to Common Core by identifying gaps in your existing standards and ways to supplement now to prepare students for the new expectations.
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Mid-continent Research for Education & Learning
4601 DTC Blvd., Suite 500
Denver, CO 80237
303.337.0990 (Phone)
303.337.3005 (Fax)
www.mcrel.org
info@mcrel.org
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Asking for help isn't easy for some students
Chicago Tribune
Research from the University of Pennsylvania suggests that students' ability to speak up for themselves and seek help from a teacher often varies by socioeconomic status. Researchers tracked 60 students from 3rd through 5th grade beginning in 2008. Jessica McCrory Calarco, lead researcher, visited students' homes, interviewed their parents, and grouped them as middle class (at least one parent had a college degree and a professional career) and working class (most parents graduated high school and worked in service jobs). While observing students in class every week, she discovered that middle-class students already knew how to ask questions and therefore spent less time waiting for help, while many working-class students had to learn those skills from their teachers and peers. Calarco believes this insight has implications beyond one assignment. "We tend to assume that once you put kids in school, what they get there will help them overcome any differences they bring with them. But what this shows is...children have a meaningful impact on the way schooling is happening and what they are able to get out of it," she said.
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Study: Once-a-year teacher evaluations not enough
eSchool News
According to a study from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, once-a-year evaluations aren't enough to help teachers improve. Researchers found that the most common teacher evaluation method used by school districts today----a single classroom observation once every year----has only a 33 percent chance of resulting in an accurate assessment of a teacher. By examining more than 13,000 lessons in districts all over the country (Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, Dallas Independent School District, Denver Public Schools, Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla., Memphis City Schools, New York City Department of Education, and Pittsburgh Public Schools), researchers determined that teachers are getting too little feedback and are being left alone to figure out what they need to do to improve. Vicki Phillips, director of the foundation's education program, said if the nation is serious about improving the quality of its teachers, improving evaluation and feedback should be an important element of that effort.
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9 Questions about Personnel Evaluation Systems
Your state, district, or school may have decided it's time to invest in improving teacher and principal performance, but now what? McREL's 9 Questions about Personnel Systems will help you take the next step. Asking and answering the nine questions is essential when selecting, developing, or implementing a personnel evaluation system. The questions, and your responses, will guide you through determining the purpose, approach, and criteria for an evaluation system that is appropriate for the needs of your state, district, or school. Also visit our Evaluation Systems website to learn more about McREL's Teacher and Principal Evaluation Systems.
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Classroom Instruction That Works, 2nd Edition
The second edition of Classroom Instruction that Works (CITW) is now available through ASCD. Visit ASCD's CITW page to see videos of three of the co-authors, Ceri Dean, Howard Pitler, and Bj Stone, and read a blog by the fourth co-author, Elizabeth Hubbell.
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Educational Leadership articles
Make Standards Engaging
Bryan Goodwin
Bryan Goodwin's article addresses student motivation and what teachers and schools can do to improve it. One study that Goodwin cites shows that extrinsic rewards like money have no positive effect on student motivation and can even diminish their intrinsic motivation, making activities less enjoyable. In another study, for example, researchers rewarded young children for drawing pictures, but then the children became less likely to spend their free time drawing. Another study found that students develop their talents over the long haul when they are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated----combining enjoyment of their studies with "serious goal-directness." Goodwin concludes that to achieve that combination, teachers can create lessons that are balanced between structure and autonomy but still communicate clear expectations for their students. Teachers can also model passion by showing students that their subject (e.g., mathematics, English, art) is worthy of a long-term pursuit.
Making standards serve the student
Jennifer Tuzzeo
This article focuses on what Adams 50, a school district outside of Denver, Colorado, is doing differently with standards in their classrooms. Three years ago, Adams 50 implemented competency-based learning, which allows students to progress through levels on the basis of their demonstrated proficiency, not their age or grade level, so that advanced students can move ahead faster, and students who need more help can take extra time. Adams 50 school officials liken the structure to playing video games---- failing isn't a big deal because players know they can keep trying until they get it, and they know they eventually will. In order to implement this structure, Adams 50 developed 16 curriculum levels for all subjects. Each level has its own "measurement topics," or benchmarks, that include the skills and knowledge students need and how to measure them. At the end of 2010-2011, Adams 50's second year of its competency-based education system, test scores were improving by 2--8 percent.
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The Recession's Ongoing Impact on America's Children
Brookings Institute
Researchers at the Brookings Institute tracked the economic well-being of children (under the age of 18) since 2007 using three indicators: the number of children with an unemployed parent, the number of individuals receiving nutrition assistance benefits (e.g., food stamps), and the level of child poverty. They found that an estimated 6.5 million children are living in families with an unemployed parent, about half of the participants receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are children (a 70 percent increase over the last four years), and that child poverty has risen from 18 percent in 2007 to 22 percent in 2010. However, researchers also noted that the number of children with an unemployed parent is lower than a year ago.
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Preparing for Change: A National Perspective on Common Core State Standards Implementation Planning
Education First, EPE Research Center
Education First and EPE Research Center surveyed state education agency (SEA) officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the transition status of the Common Core State Standards in the areas of teacher professional development, curriculum, and teacher evaluation systems. The report shows that only seven states have fully developed plans for each of the three areas and most of those states received Race to the Top funds. Eighteen states lack fully developed plans in all three areas. Although few states have completed their planning, most intend to start measuring student performance against the new standards by the 2014--15 school year. Diane Stark Renter, director of the Center on Education Policy, said the Education First/EPE report captures states' struggle with tough economic times: "It's not a lack of will but a lack of funding."
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States weaken tenure rights for teachers
USA Today
In an analysis of all 50 states, the National Council on Teacher Quality has found that fewer teachers in public schools are getting tenure. According to the report, this is because more states are replacing automatic "satisfactory" teacher evaluations with those linked to teacher performance and basing teacher layoffs on performance instead of seniority. In 2009, no state required student performance to be central to whether a teacher is awarded tenure; today, eight states do. The analysis also says four states now want evidence that students are learning before awarding tenure. Even with teachers' unions becoming more accepting of strengthening teacher evaluations, some argue that the changes lower morale, deny teachers due process, and unfairly target older teachers; they often question the systems' fairness and want them designed with local teachers' input.
Read the full report for more details on each state.
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Free webinars from McREL
Balanced Leadership: Leading Change
Thursday, March 1, 2012
9:00-10:00 a.m. MST
To be effective, educational leaders need to know how to initiate, monitor, and lead change. In this webinar, McREL's JJ Sawyer will explain 11 responsibilities that principals should emphasize when leading difficult, "second-order" change. Sawyer, a principal consultant, has worked with school and district leaders nationwide to implement effective, sustainable change.
Success in Sight - Digging Deeper into Data: Unearthing Root Causes for Under-performance
Friday, March 9, 2012
9:00-10:00 a.m. MST
In this webinar, learn a structured process for digging deeper into data to identify the real reasons students are struggling and the best ways to raise their performance. McREL Principal Consultant Dana Frazee, who guides schools in using the five-step Success in Sight approach to get quick results and achieve lasting, meaningful change, will present.
Success in Sight - Avoiding "lost in translation": Getting implementation right
Friday, March 23, 2012
9:00-10:00 a.m. MST
The key challenge in improving schools is not finding good ideas; it's choosing the best ones and implementing them. In this webinar, learn practical strategies for getting "buy-in" from staff and effectively implementing improvement efforts. McREL's Dana Frazee, principal consultant, will present. Dana assists educators with implementing change in their schools and districts and has a background in educational leadership consulting.
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Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works
Denver, CO, February 29--March 2, 2012
Franklin, IN, March 8--9, 2012
In this workshop, learn about research-based instructional strategies for increasing student achievement and how to integrate technology into these strategies. Participate in guided practice with word processing, Web resources, organizing and brainstorming software, data collection, and multimedia and leave the workshop with technology-infused lesson plans ready for the classroom.
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ASCD Annual Conference
Philadelphia, PA, March 24--26, 2012
Several McREL employees are presenting at ASCD's Annual Conference.
- John Kendall on Common Core Standards
- Howard Pitler on "Classroom Instruction That Works Now: The New Framework"
- Bryan Goodwin on "Bored to Death: What We Know (and Ignore) About Student Motivation"
- Greg Cameron on "The Balanced Leadership Fieldbook: Managing Change"
- Matt Seebaum on "Doing What Matters Most: Focusing on the Simply Better Touchstones"
- Jane Hill and Anne Lundquist will present a pre-conference session, "Language Development for ELLs: What's Leadership Got to Do with It?"
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Celebration of Teaching and Learning
New York City, March 16--17, 2012
This two-day experience is a premier professional development conference that brings together the world's best thinkers and practitioners and more than 10,000 educators to share their passion for teaching and learning. Participants can attend a number of sessions that include speakers and hands-on, "in the classroom" workshops, as well as visit two exhibit halls featuring the latest in educational tools, interactive events, and book signings.
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McREL and SearchSoft take educator evaluation systems nationwide
McREL has teamed up with SearchSoft, a leading developer in education software systems, to provide an online version of McREL's Educator Evaluation Systems to schools and districts nationwide. More than 130,000 teachers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Montana, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands are currently being evaluated using McREL's evaluation system. SearchSoft's cloud-based technology platform is currently used by thousands of schools across the country to deliver a web-based version of McREL's trusted evaluation instruments upon this proven platform. SearchSoft Solutions will also lead the sales and support efforts of McREL's online solutions.
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State of New York approves Principal Evaluation System
The New York State Education Department has placed McREL's Principal Evaluation System on its Approved Teacher and Principal Practice Rubrics. In December, the system was recommended for statewide implementation by the Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Commission and is awaiting approval by the state board of education. "We are excited to have the opportunity to work with schools and districts in New York and Oklahoma as they seek to more fairly and consistently evaluate their leaders in a way that truly transforms leadership and school performance," said Tony Davis, McREL senior director of educator effectiveness and new business development.
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