Search Results for: "common core"
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Statement from SCORE on 2012-13 Tennessee TCAP Results
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released the following statement today from Jamie Woodson, President and CEO, on statewide results for the 2012-13 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP): “Tennessee has made an important commitment over the last few years – we have set a goal that every student graduates from high school prepared for…
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Standardized Testing Gives Teachers Important Insight
We’re at the time of year where test data are starting to come out. The targeted interventions are over, the posters about remembering to eat and sleep are off the walls as the school goes through its preparations for next year, and everyone is a lot calmer. Summer is the perfect time to de-stress from…
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Statewide Survey Shows Tennesseans Support Higher Academic Standards
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released today the results from a statewide public opinion poll focused on voter perceptions of Tennessee’s work to raise academic expectations through the Common Core State Standards. The survey, commissioned by SCORE and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research, was conducted on May 6-7…
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2013 Rise to the Challenge Competition
In February, SCORE released the 2012-13 State of Education in Tennessee report, which includes an overview of the academic gains the state has made over the past year, an update on the work that has contributed to the improvements students have experienced, extensive state and district data, and education priorities for Tennessee in 2013 that…
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Leading Tennessee to the Top: 2013 Leadership Summit
We all know that there are dozens of factors that significantly impact student success. When we do just a bit of digging, we know that when it comes to in-school factors, effective teaching and leadership take the top spots in terms of influence on student outcomes. Whether in an organization, a church, a family, or…
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Education and journalism leaders join SCORE team
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) announced today that Dr. Jared Bigham will join the organization as Director of College and Career Readiness and Teresa Wasson will join the organization as Deputy Director of Communications. Bigham and Wasson will enhance the organization’s college and career-readiness work, communicating about and advocating for Tennessee’s efforts to…
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In the Common Core, Rigor is Precision
When I recently spoke to a group of high school juniors from East Tennessee about education reform, I asked a simple question: “How many of you have been consistently challenged academically throughout your schooling?” Not a single student raised her hand.
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VOTE: Which topic would you like to learn more about from the 2012 SCORE Prize winners?
Which topic would you like to learn more about from the 2012 SCORE Prize winners? Voting has ended. SCORE will host a virtual convening featuring 2012 SCORE Prize winners to discuss “Ensuring Excellent Teaching.”
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Evaluation from the learner perspective
I had an epiphany in my role as an instructional leader. Like most good ideas I implement, it seems simple and logical in hindsight. And also like most good ideas I implement, it did not originate with me. In February, I did what all good parents in education do and used my 3rd grade twins…
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‘Close reading’ standard enriches students’ understanding
As a lover of literature, I revel in the discoveries you can make by reading texts closely. Whether it’s a news story, a set of technical instructions, or a poem by Robert Frost, paying close attention to what the words actually say is the only way to understand the complexities of the message. And from…
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Three Approaches to Attracting and Retaining “Irreplaceable” Teachers
On November 12, 2012, I had the privilege to serve on a panel to discuss the importance of attracting and retaining “irreplaceable” teachers. Before the panel discussion started, Tim Daly, President of The New Teacher Project (TNTP), introduced to the group a 30-minute summary of his recent report on the “The Irreplaceables.” Tim explained to…
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Communicating the Data Message: Teacher Effectiveness
Sometimes talking about the data implications of education policy can be tricky. In fact, I’ll be honest, trying to explain what I do at DQC to most people causes their eyes to glaze over. Bring up data and people’s minds immediately wander to excel spreadsheets, grad school research papers, and then quickly on to the…
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Finding “Common” Ground to Support the Uniqueness of Students and Teachers
As I view my school through the lens of an instructional leader, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the complexity that is involved in educating a single child. Proficient, Advanced, Students with Disabilities, Gap Students, Basic, Below Basic, At Risk, At Grade Level, Below Grade Level…the labels and individual situations of students are seemingly endless. Why…
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Bridging our educational gaps
Back in August, I loaded up a truck in Nashville and headed north to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here at the University of Michigan, I have just completed my first semester as a doctoral student examining the connections between public policy and higher education. Although the hot days of summer in Nashville seem like a distant…
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Thoughts from the World Innovation Summit for Education
I was privileged last month to attend the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, Qatar. The Learners’ Voice program brought together 30 young people from 24 countries. There were two primary takeaways I had from the WISE Summit, first with respect to the love of learning and the second regarding the role of…
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Common Core sets bar for achievement
This post originally appeared in the 12/12/12 Commercial Appeal. There I was. A former honor student who had graduated at the top of her class, gotten a 5 on four of the six Advanced Placement exams I had taken, been accepted to all 10 colleges I’d applied to, staring at words I had never seen…
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Dispatch from the Epicenter of Ed Reform: The Grad Student Experience
It’s a pretty ideal time to be a graduate student in education policy in Nashville. When I first arrived at Peabody for my Master’s in Public Policy degree, I was fresh out of teaching in a Hong Kong classroom. It was Peabody that had brought me back to my hometown of Nashville, but I didn’t…
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Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships, Oh my!!!
Teachers cannot do it alone. As an administrator, I know the importance of supporting teachers in my building. By helping them gain the skills they need to increase rigor for their students, add relevance to the subject they teach, and build relationships with students, I am helping raise achievement at Covington High School.
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How will I know if my child is ready for college?
This blog post originally appeared in the Data Quality Campaign’s blog, The Flashlight. “How will I know if my child is ready for college?” This is a question I heard a few weeks ago from a parent in a rural part of Tennessee. It is a question that I hear quite often when I…
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Stakeholder data use is dependent on stakeholder capacity to access and use data
Those who remember the View-Master from childhood will recall the dazzling images they cast before the user’s eyes. While the image the View-Master presents is vivid and entertaining, it lacks the motion, sound, and character development of a movie. Movies progress over time, and deliver the viewer a complete, 2-hour picture of a series of…