Common Core State Standards puts teachers in control of crafting and tailoring the education of their students. Critical thinking skills can now be part of our students’ educational foundation, and we can decide how to best teach that. And while we support the Standards, we do not support the high-stakes testing that some want to bring along with them. We believe that we cannot test simply for the sake of testing. Student assessments must be thoughtful in their purpose and must include both formative and summative pieces so that learning is assessed throughout the year. This includes educators creating authentic, classroom-based curriculum and assessments along with high quality professional development that is directed by educators.

Resources on Common Core

• Understanding Proficiency, Learning from student work on performance tasks. 
• BetterLesson
  • This site features thousands of free comprehensive Common Core resources including narratives, videos, personal reflections and classroom resources.
  • Meet the Master Teachers behind the lesson plans 
  • Browse the lesson plans
• Common Core State Standards Initiative Official Website 
• CCSS Video Series from the Hunt Institute 

Learning Labs

• 20 Instructional Strategies for Teaching CCSS, CTA Summer Institute Listen to keynote speaker Dr Marcia Tate speak about creating a “brain-compatible” environment and delivering a “brain-compatible” lesson.
• A Deeper Dive: English Language Arts Standards (K-5), CTA Summer Institute 
• Ensuring English Learners’ Success with CC and the New ELD Standards,  CTA Summer Institute. New standards focus on using English purposefully, interacting in meaningful ways, and learning about how English works.