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The EdGate Observer

 

CONNECTING PUBLISHERS AND

EDUCATORS TO WHAT WORKS

 

April 2013


News_Line

In This Issue
Top Stories
Common Core Update
Hot Topic
Social Emotional Learning
Top Stories
News_Line
 
Congratulations to the following 2013 Bessie Award Recipients (Best Educational Software Awards):

* ABC-CLIO History 

* ABC-CLIO Social Studies 

* Learning A-Z Reading Resource 

* Learning A-Z Science Resource 

* Rosen Publishing Digital Literacy 

* Rosen Publishing Financial Literacy

California Announces Spanish Version of Common Core

As California moves toward full implementation of the Common Core State Standards, a separate effort underway to translate the English-language arts standards into Spanish has now been completed. The First Edition Draft of the English/Spanish Version of the SLA/Literacy Standards are now available. A group of district-level educators and language scholars did the translating, including the "linguistic augmentation" needed to ensure the new document goes beyond a word-by-word literal translation to communicate concepts usefully.

 

New Education Standards Turn Librarians Into Digital Media Specialists

At Walker Middle School near Tampa, the library media specialist teaches how to research poets using an online library. Media specialists have evolved as the world has grown more high-tech. New education standards, known as Common Core, are set to take effect in 2014 will mean more changes. The standards require more reading and ask students to back up their answers with research. For media specialists, that means teaching students research and analysis skills.

 

Catholic Schools Embrace Common Core

More than 100 Catholic dioceses have signed on to the Common Core for their schools. Educators say the Common Core is too big to ignore. It's based on strategies from high-scoring foreign countries and is structured to get more students ready for college and a career. For Catholic schools, there's an added need to infuse faith and values, such as social justice, into the Common Core curriculum. Catholic schools will have a standards-based, 21st-century, Gospel-infused curriculum.

 

Tennessee Common Core Transition

The Tennessee DOE is enlisting the help of more than 700 teachers to help their peers navigate the transition to the Common Core State Standards. This year's cohort will help lead 5 weeks of summer trainings on the Common Core math, English/language arts and literacy standards, reaching more than 30,000 teachers across the state. They follow in the footsteps of last year's 200 coaches, who have spent this school year guiding their colleagues on the Common Core transition in math for grades 3-8.

 

Alabama State DOE Incorporates ACT Aspire Assessment

For the 2013-2014 school year, ACT Aspire has been approved as Alabama's summative assessment for Reading and Mathematics in Grades 3-8, which is aligned to Common Core State Standards. The State Board of Education agrees that an aligned 3-8 assessment to the ACT would create a clear and easily articulated trajectory toward college and career readiness.


Staff Highlight

 

We would like to introduce you to a member of our Science Team,
Kathy Siqueland

 

Kathy brings 10 years of experience teaching all aspects of science in grades 5-12 to EdGate. She also taught Math and Health for grades 6-8 and tutored all subject areas for home-bound students afflicted by severe illnesses. She has been part of the EdGate team since 2005, specializing in content correlation and standards. She also helped in the development and maintenance of EdGate's controlled vocabulary, assessment projects, and Curriculum Matrix science content including the iPad project.
  

 About Us

 

About_Us_ECS

Founded in 1997, EdGate Correlation Services (EdGate) is a leader in the field of alignment solutions for educational companies around the world. 

  

The EdGate Standards Repository is the most comprehensive collection of national and international educational standards in all subject areas.

 

Through the power of our technology and the professional experience of our subject-area specialists, EdGate provides  accurate and continually updated correlations, on-demand correlation reporting capabilities, and effective website integration options.

 

EdGate can also deliver standards licensing, customized taxonomy solutions, correlation to assessment standards, and more.

Join Our Mailing List

Welcome to The EdGate Observer!

 

Greetings everyone,

 

First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the tragedy in Boston on April 15th. 

 

In this month's newsletter, we focus on the most recent educational news pertaining to Common Core Standards Under Attack (Common Core Update), Common Assessments Might Not Make The Grade  (Hot Topic), Benefits of SEL (Social Emotional Learning), Final Next Generation Science Standards (EdGate Services) and following up with new additions to the EdGate Standards Repository (Standards Update).

 

As always, EdGate is your source for staying current with new developments in education and specifically the impact of educational standards.   

 

Regards,

Sandra Schugren, EdGate General Manager

 

Common Core Update Common_Core_Why  

 

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS UNDER ATTACK

 

EdGate Correlation Services stays apprised of latest developments relating to Common Core and the headlines recently have been quite critical.

 

Some states are now responding in various ways to communicate their reasoning and justification behind the adoption of the Common Core State Standards. Do you know how they got started and why they were developed?

 

North Carolina's State Superintendent, June St. Clair Atkinson, posted in her recent blog "Common Core - It's about Reading and Math" on how state superintendents across the nation met several years ago (before Common Core) and collaborated on how they could work together to determine what students should know and be able to do in mathematics and language arts. As a result of that meeting, they determined that common standards would benefit students in developing the best thinking about math and English language arts and to bring some uniformity to these two curriculum areas. States could share materials and save money. Ms. Atkinson expresses she was there from the beginning, has first-hand knowledge, and says this is not an effort that the federal government directed.

 

To read the full blog, visit: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/statesuperintendent/blog/

 

Montana State Department of Education recently posted a Myths vs. Facts on the Montana Common Core State Standards.

 

Myth: The federal government has required Montana to adopt the Common Core State Standards.

Fact: The Common Core State Standards initiative is a state-led, bipartisan effort that is not a requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) or any other federally-funded program. Individual states made their own decisions about whether to adopt the standards.

 

To read the other Myths and Facts, visit: http://opi.mt.gov/PDF/CCSSO/13April-Myths-vs-Facts.pdf

  

PARCC_SBAC

Hot Topic   

 

NEW COMMON CORE ASSESSMENTS MIGHT NOT MAKE THE GRADE 

A recent article in the Washington Post got our attention regarding the absence of innovative and revolutionary assessment practices promised with the new "Next Generation of Assessments".

 

Teachers, districts, states, and publishers have all been eagerly awaiting the new Common Core Assessments to be released in time for implementation during the 2014-2015 school year. Arne Duncan's promise for "Beyond The Bubble Tests" being developed to align to Common Core might not be the assessments teachers were hoping for.

 

A recent report from the Gordon Commission on the Future of Assessment in Education makes clear that although the PARCC and Smarter Balanced consortia have made significant strides in the development of assessments, hope is fading those innovative assessments promised will be included. All is not lost though, the Gordon Commission expects with further research, time and effort, the assessments can be what was originally envisioned. We will have to wait and see.

 

Here is another interesting article from the Center for Digital Education on the Common Core Pilot Tests 

 

Expect us to keep an ear out listening for any new information that comes out! Jennifer_NEW

 

Project Manager

Social Emotional Learning   SEL  

 

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING RECOGNIZED

 

On April 9, 2013, Ohio-based Saperstein Associates released its white paper summarizing research on the benefits of social-emotional learning (SEL) and character education. The paper was presented in January at the educational summit Beyond Bullying: Safe Schools, Successful Students at Teachers College, Columbia University.

 

 Beyond Bullying: Proactive Approaches for Successful Students and Safe Schools shows stakeholders how SEL and character education improves literacy development; boosts academic performance; reduces absenteeism and suspension; supports and is supported by the Common Core State Standards; and creates a caring, positive school environment. Real-world examples are included.

 

Says Dr. Ernest Morrell of Columbia University, "Helping kids understand and like themselves is a precursor to understanding others. We can do these things in the common core curriculum, in social studies, science, and math class."

 

For more information on the summit, the paper and to learn what U.S. school principals have to say about bullying in their schools, visit

http://www.beyondbullyingsummit.org/ Lisa_New

 

By: Lisa Waugh
Project Manager

EdgateServicesEdGate Services    NGSS(2)  

 

NEW STANDARDS FOR A NEW GENERATION

 

NSTA released new science education standards this week that provide a cohesive approach to K-12 science instruction. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) establish learning expectations for students that integrate three important dimensions-science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts-effectively builds science concepts from kindergarten through 12th grade, and integrates important concepts of engineering.  The NGSS are based on the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education.

 

This is a very exciting time for science teachers as NGSS has the potential to significantly improve science education by establishing educational goals for all students to prepare them to enter college or the STEM workforce and to be informed citizens.

 

EdGate's Science Team are busy reviewing the new standards and science concepts. Once their work is completed, clients who have science content and an Annual Maintenance Agreement will receive the updated alignments to include the NGSS standards.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Leslie Kolber at lkolber@edgate.com or Tracy Olstad at tolstad@edgate.com

 

  Leslie_Kolber The "EdGate Advantage is   Tracy_Olstad

YOUR Advantage"

 

 

 

 

StandardsUpdate

Standards Update 

 

Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include:  

 

� California Library Standards (2010)

� National Curriculum of Ireland - English (1999)

� Northern Ireland Curriculum - Arts Education (2012)

� Northern Ireland Curriculum - Language Arts (2012)

� Northern Ireland Curriculum - Health Education (2012)

� Northern Ireland Curriculum - Mathematics (2012)

� Pennsylvania Social Studies Grades PreK-2 (2012)

� Rhode Island Arts Education (2010)

� Tennessee Mathematics Additional Courses Grades 9-12 (2010)

� Utah Early Childhood Education (2013)

� Utah Health and PE Grade PreK (2013)

� Utah Language Arts Grade PreK (2013)

� Utah Mathematics Grade PreK (2013)

� Utah Science Grade PreK (2013)

 

NOTE: The following curriculum has been added to the EdGate Standards Repository:

 

� Indian CBSE Mathematics 041 (2013)

� Indian CISCE Environmental Science 82 (2013)

� Indian CISCE Geography 50 (2013)

� Indian CISCE Science 52 (2013)

� OCR GCSE Geography B J385 (2013)

 

CBSE - the Central Board of Secondary Education is a Board of Education for public and private schools under the Union Government of India.

CISCE - based out of New Delhi, India, the Council for The Indian School Certificate Examinations was established by the University of Cambridge for local examinations in India.

OCR - a leading UK awarding body which provides qualifications engaging people of all ages and abilities at school, college, in work or through part-time learning programmes.


If you have any questions regarding standards, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to assist you. You can always join us on Twitter and Facebook to receive notifications regarding state standards in the

EdGate Standards Repository at:

Kristie

http://twitter.com/EdGate

http://www.facebook.com

 

Kristie McCarley

EdGate Standards and Operations Manager

kmccarley@edgate.com