As the discussion of the Common Core and associated assessment systems heats up, I wanted to share these valuable resources. They were compiled by Achieve, the US Education Delivery Institute, and Education First, and are hyperlinked in the press release below:
As states move forward with their implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), states and districts need to know if their teachers and principals are ready to teach to the new standards effectively. Some educators have closely followed the development of the CCSS and have a deep understanding of the instructional shifts they will need to make; others are just beginning to review the new standards; still others aren’t sure if the new standards will affect their classrooms at all.
Achieve, the U.S. Education Delivery Institute and Education First have developed a set of voluntary survey questions, along with a guidance document and PowerPoint to assist states and districts in assessing whether their educators are ready to implement the new standards, whether the tools and resources being developed are useful, and where additional supports are needed. The survey tool is designed as an “item bank” and includes a variety of questions for teachers and school leaders that can be tailored to create customized surveys to generate educator feedback. The guidance document and PowerPoint explains the context of the tool, methods for customization and use, and suggestions for how to use the data to make mid-course corrections.
These are part of a suite of tools under development to support states in their CCSS implementation. They were released on Monday during an American Diploma Project webinar attended by more than 15 states, representing both the Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessment consortia. Earlier this year Achieve and Education First also released the Common Core State Standards Implementation Rubric and Self-Assessment Tool, a detailed rubric and tool showing the specific state leadership roles and activities that will be essential to helping educators and students succeed with the new standards, along with examples of promising state approaches. Achieve and the U.S. Education Delivery Institute also recently released an updated Common Core Implementation Planning Workbook to assist states with ongoing comprehensive planning and implementation.
