Dave Stuart Jr.’s work is centered on a simple belief: all students and teachers can flourish. These 6 Things is all about streamlining your practice so that you’re teaching smarter, not harder, and kids are learning, doing, and flourishing in ELA and content-area classrooms. In this essential resource, teachers will receive: Proven, classroom-tested advice delivered in an approachable, teacher-to-teacher style that builds confidence Practical strategies for streamlining instruction in order to focus on key beliefs and literacy-building activities Solutions and suggestions for the most common teacher and student “hang-ups” Numerous recommendations for deeper reading on key topics
These new model core teaching standards outline what all teachers across all content and grade levels should know and be able to do to be effective in today's learning contexts. They are a revision of the 1992 model standards, in response to the need for a new vision of teaching to meet the needs of next generation learners. This document incorporates changes from a public feedback period in July 2010.
Lead a Common Core implementation that closes achievement gaps! Will your Common Core implementation promote equity, access, and inclusion? This illuminating book shows how central Common Core tenets—rigor, meaningful curricula and assessment, and higher order thinking—can become educational realities for every child in your school or district. Written by a team of respected authors known for guiding schools and districts towards cultural proficiency, this resource enables readers to Understand how underlying beliefs related to historically-underserved students may create roadblocks to effective instruction Create a school culture where diversity is valued, including developing relevant professional learning Compile and analyze meaningful data that enables faculty to better reach students from all backgrounds Advance the goal of college and career-readiness for all learners With a compelling call to action and practical strategies, this timely book points the way to a Common Core implementation that benefits every student. "The authors have ensured that the use of cultural proficiency by educators provides the Common Core State Standards with the ′step towards the place where equity and access are realized for all learners.′ Equity and access, two of the pillars of equity in education, are essential if meeting individual student needs are truly to occur." —Dr. Kenneth R. Magdaleno, Associate Professor Kremen School of Education, Fresno State, CA "This resource gives not only theory and rationale for this important change in thinking, but also the guided steps to collaborate and reflect as part of the change process." —Dr. Carol Van Vooren, Assistant Professor California State University, San Marcos
Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children's present and future educational success. Research demonstrates that virtually all young children have the capability to learn and become competent in mathematics. Furthermore, young children enjoy their early informal experiences with mathematics. Unfortunately, many children's potential in mathematics is not fully realized, especially those children who are economically disadvantaged. This is due, in part, to a lack of opportunities to learn mathematics in early childhood settings or through everyday experiences in the home and in their communities. Improvements in early childhood mathematics education can provide young children with the foundation for school success. Relying on a comprehensive review of the research, Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood lays out the critical areas that should be the focus of young children's early mathematics education, explores the extent to which they are currently being incorporated in early childhood settings, and identifies the changes needed to improve the quality of mathematics experiences for young children. This book serves as a call to action to improve the state of early childhood mathematics. It will be especially useful for policy makers and practitioners-those who work directly with children and their families in shaping the policies that affect the education of young children.
That version of the standards you wish you had All over the nation, teachers and administrators are poring over the Common Core State Standards to come up with meaningful plans for raising student achievement. But as clear as the standards are, they are more of a sundial than a GPS for pinpointing just what to teach and how to teach it. Enter Jim Burke with The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8. It's that version of the standards you wish you had: a roadmap of what each standard says, what each standard means, and how precisely to put that standard into day-to-day practice across English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Designed to provide schools, districts, and departments with a common language or set of reference points for effective school-wide implementation, The Common Core Companion clearly lays out: Grades 6-8 standards side by side with key distinctions highlighted so teachers know what they must teach from grade to grade All the different content-area versions of each standard arranged on one page to facilitate easy reference and school wide collaboration Explanations of each standard on a corresponding page, written in accessible language, along with prompts and questions to help students learn and apply each standard Essential content to cover and lesson ideas for modeling the literacy skills behind the standards Instructional techniques for each standard based on Jim's extensive teaching experience and current research on effective instruction Complete glossary for each standard and adaptations for ELL students Don't spend another minute poring over the standards. Jim has already done that for you. Focus instead on how to teach them, using The Common Core Companion as your one-stop guide for teaching, planning, assessing, collaborating, and designing powerful reading and writing curricula.
What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.
If you're a high school teacher, no need to despair. Jim Burke has created a Common Core Companion for you, too, as your one-stop guide across subjects.
A comprehensive analysis of the astonishing changes that elevated the Chicago public school system from one of the worst in the nation to one of the most improved. How a City Learned to Improve Its Schools tells the story of the extraordinary thirty-year school reform effort that changed the landscape of public education in Chicago. Acclaimed educational researcher Anthony S. Bryk joins five coauthors directly involved in Chicago’s education reform efforts, Sharon Greenberg, Albert Bertani, Penny Sebring, Steven E. Tozer, and Timothy Knowles, to illuminate the many factors that led to this transformation of the Chicago Public Schools. Beginning in 1987, Bryk and colleagues lay out the civic context for reform, outlining the systemic challenges such as segregation, institutional racism, and income and resource disparities that reformers grappled with as well as the social conflicts they faced. Next, they describe how fundamental changes occurred at every level of schooling: enhancing classroom instruction; organizing more engaged and effective local school communities; strengthening the preparation, recruitment, and support of teachers and school leaders; and sustaining an ambitious evidence-based campaign to keep the public informed on the progress of key reform initiatives and the challenges still ahead. The power of this capacity building is validated by unprecedented increases in benchmarks such as graduation rates and college matriculation. This riveting account introduces key actors within the schools, city government, and business community, and the partnerships they forged. It also reveals the surprising yet essential role of Chicago's innovative information infrastructure in aligning disparate initiatives. In making clear how elements such as advocacy, civic capacity, improvement research, and strong democracy contributed to large-scale progress in the system's 600-plus schools, the book highlights the greater lessons that the Chicago story offers for system improvement overall.
