Common-Standards Supports Eyed for Teachers

From guest blogger Stephen Sawchuk on the Curriculum Matters blog:

Five states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards are beginning work on an initiative to create an open-source "platform" that would help teachers access, download, and create resources tied to the common standards, officials from the Council of Chief State School Officers told us today.

CCSSO and the states of New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Colorado will take the lead in helping design and pilot the platform, with financing promised by the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Four other states—Delaware, Kentucky, Georgia, and Louisiana—are planning to take part in the near future, with the goal of implementing it in all nine states by fall 2013.

The idea of a resources clearinghouse, said Gene Wilhoit, the executive director of CCSSO, came in response to conversations with teachers and teachers' groups that have been providing feedback on the progress of the common-standards initiative.

"One of the early concerns that was raised [by teachers] is what kind of support are you going to give us as we try to implement," Wilhoit said. "Frankly, they told us, 'You'd better not abandon us.' "

The idea is to make a range of supports—including lesson plans, diagnostic tools, and curricular units—available for free through an online platform. That online clearinghouse would offer teachers access to tools and materials and also give them chances to network, discuss ways to use or improve them, or band together to create, upload, and share their own resources.

To read the entire article go to:  Common-Standards Supports Eyed for Teachers