Despite persistent political debates, the Common Core State Standards are now a classroom reality in public schools across the country. Yet much is in flux as educators wrestle with how best to teach the Common Core — or their own state’s version of it — and some states rethink the tests tied to the new K-12 standards.
Join EWA on Feb. 25-26 in Los Angeles for an intensive seminar to make sense of the fast-evolving landscape for teaching and testing in the Common Core era. The stakes are high as many states embark on Year Two of Common Core testing, making year-over-year comparisons possible for the first time.
This two-day event will equip busy reporters with fresh ideas, new tools, and concrete plans to step up their game in covering this major, unfolding change in American education. Journalists will learn from educators, researchers, policy experts and one another about such topics as the nuances of observing classroom instruction and what to expect from the next, crucial round of test results.
Survey data released at the event will provide fresh insights into the experiences and views of teachers and administrators who are putting the standards into practice. In addition, new research findings will reveal where districts and states are turning for new textbooks and other curricular materials pegged to the math and English/language arts standards — often big-ticket spending items with major consequences for the classroom.
The seminar will also raise key questions around assessments. Why have so many states reversed course on common testing? How can reporters explore the quality of the competing assessments states are using? What do we know about the economics of testing and the fierce competition among testing companies? How are revisions in widely used college-entrance exams changing the game?
Testing and Test Prep: How Much Is Too Much?
It’s not hard to find a teacher willing to bend your ear about the volume of standardized testing in schools today, and the pressure for “test prep.” But how widespread are such concerns among educators? And what’s the on-the-ground reality they experience?
New survey data suggest these impressions about over-testing and test prep are more than just anecdotal: They are the norm for the majority of public school teachers.
Opt Out 2.0: Snapshot of Spring Testing Season
With state testing season wrapping up, the decision by some families to skip the K-12 exams in protest this spring has once again sparked widespread discussion – and news coverage around the country.
Common Science Standards Quietly Gain Momentum
Although the Common Core State Standards have garnered significant attention nationwide, a set of common standards for science is gaining traction but far less public notice so far.
How Colleges Can Help Students Who Are First in Their Families to Attend College
A few weeks ago Reina Olivas got on the phone with a freshman college student. “She was having a hard time with the cultural experience, the college experience,” said Olivas, a college mentor who’s in her third year at the University of Texas at Austin. “So I asked her this initial question – ‘Have you gone to office hours?’”
Olivas is part of an eight-person crew at the Dell Scholars Program that connects with 1,500 college students across the country who could use a helpful hint from other students who also are wending their way through higher learning.
New Ways to Find Out Who Is Ready for College
Do tests or high school grades better determine whether a student is ready for college-level math and reading? For public universities and community colleges, increasingly the answer is both – or no tests at all, reporters learned during a seminar hosted by the Education Writers Association in Los Angeles last month.
Agenda: College Readiness: What Does It Mean for Higher Ed?
February 26 & 27 • Los Angeles
Friday, February 26
Welcome
12:45 – 1:00 p.m.
New Developments in College Admissions Testing
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. | Video Recording
Agenda: Teaching and Testing in the Common Core Era
February 25 & 26 • Los Angeles
Thursday, February 25
Breakfast
8:15 – 8:45 a.m.
Welcome
8:45 – 9:00 a.m.
Textbooks and the Common Core
9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
Scholarship Steps for the L.A. Seminars
EWA is able to provided limited travel scholarships to qualified members. Scholarships may be able to cover or reimburse your costs to attend the seminar. Scholarships are granted first come, first served.
About: ‘College Readiness: What Does It Mean for Higher Ed?’
Seminar Theme & Description
“College and career readiness” has become the rallying cry for what high schools should aim to achieve for their graduates. But large numbers of students still arrive on college campuses needing remedial courses, and many of those who are academically ready still struggle to adapt to college and earn their degrees.
About: ‘Teaching and Testing in the Common Core Era’
Seminar Theme & Description
Despite persistent political debates, the Common Core State Standards are now a classroom reality in public schools across the country. Yet much is in flux as educators wrestle with how best to teach the Common Core — or their own state’s version of it — and some states rethink the tests tied to the new K-12 standards.