Post Tagged with: "common core"

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Common Core / Louisiana

Louisiana Releases Preliminary PARCC Results

Last spring, students across Louisiana took a new standardized test called PARCC – also known as the Common Core test. Now the state has released preliminary test scores.

Exterior of Mississippi Department of Education headquarters. File photo.
Mississippi

Mississippi Ed Officials: Common Core Viewed Positively

Mississippians are using a 90-day public comment period to give feedback on the state’s Common Core Education Standards. Education officials say a majority of the comments are positive.

Jennifer Brown, Alabama's 2015-2015 Teacher of the Year. Alabama State Department of Education photo.
Alabama / Audio

INTERVIEW: Alabama Teacher Of The Year On Common Core, Charters, “Rebel” Mascots & More

Vestavia Hills, Ala. science teacher Jennifer Brown is that state’s 2015-2016 Teacher of The Year. The 16-year educator, who once wanted to be a professional basketball player, sits down with our Alabama reporter to talk about her motivations and about controversial issues like Common Core, charter schools, standardized testing and Vestavia Hills City Schools’ “Rebel” mascot.

Glen Sylvan. Credit: (Special to the Southern Education Desk)
Common Core Series / Louisiana

Common Core: Can Standards Really Prepare Students for College?

Over the last two years, there has been a lot of debate surrounding the Common Core standards throughout the country. But sometimes, all the political noise can make us forget about the main goal of these standards. Do they really do a better job of preparing kids for college and careers? And if not, what’s stopping them?

Anna Davis of Picayune and her daughter Isabel doing everyday school work. Credit: Paul Boger/MPB
Alabama / Common Core Series / Mississippi / Tennessee

Common Core: Re-branding Common Core – Does the Name Make a Difference?

Common Core education standards have been controversial since their adoption nearly half-a-decade ago. Some states have tried re-branding Common Core by changing the name. Others have dropped the standards all together. In the South, states are taking a different approach by asking residents themselves to reevaluate the standards.

INTERVIEW: Ed Policy Expert On Her Deep-South State’s Low NAEP Rankings
Alabama / Audio

INTERVIEW: Ed Policy Expert On Her Deep-South State’s Low NAEP Rankings

Alabama recently got some unflattering news about its students’ proficiency, especially in eighth-grade math. The National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP is a standardized test sometimes called “the nation’s report card.” On the 2013 test, Alabama eighth-graders ranked fiftieth out of 52 jurisdictions in mathematics (military-base schools, and those in the District of Columbia, were counted as two additional groups). As with most education topics, though, it’s not quite that simple. Our Alabama reporter Dan Carsen sat down with Alabama School Connection executive director Trisha Powell Crain to go behind the results. She says we shouldn’t put too much emphasis on one data point, or be too surprised at Alabama’s low showing.

Birmingham and Alabama Teacher of the Year Alison Grizzle. Alabama State Department of Education photo.
Alabama / Audio

INTERVIEW: Alabama’s Outspoken Teacher Of The Year

Alison Grizzle isn’t your typical teacher, or even your typical Alabama Teacher of the Year. The Birmingham City Schools math instructor is known for being very outspoken, even on third-rail issues like standardized testing and the Common Core State Standards. We thought we’d share her thoughts on those issues and more as staff and students return to school routines. Our Alabama reporter Dan Carsen recently caught up with Grizzle at an education conference where she was giving talks. But it turns out this award-winning teacher almost didn’t become a teacher at all.

Common-Core-based standards hang on the wall of master math teacher Beth Moore's classroom at Walker Elementary in Northport, Ala. Schools across the state are using the math standards, and the language arts standards go into effect this fall. Walker has enthusiastically embraced the Common Core. Photo by Dan Carsen.
Alabama / Audio / Common Core Series

Common Core: Is The Hype Really Just Hype?

There’s been a revolution in American K-12 education: the “Common Core State Standards.” Released in 2010, they’re math and language arts standards meant to raise rigor and establish consistency across the nation. They’ve been adopted in 45 states. But in the first of a three-part series, Alabama reporter Dan Carsen tells us that even in those places, all is not quiet on the Common Core front.