State Launches Common Ground for the Common Core

Over 700 Delaware educators from 143 schools gathered in Dover last weekend to dig deep into the Common Core State Standards as part of the Department’s Common Ground for the Common Core initiative. The project is designed to support educators implementing the standards by providing intense support to a team of teachers that can take that knowledge and work with educators in their building.

The project will help bring Delaware educators up to speed on what the standards are, its implications for their day-to-day classroom instruction, and changes that are necessary to ensure they successfully rollout and benefit students.

In pushing forward with this effort, Delaware educators are not alone. Teachers in 45 states throughout the country are transitioning from their original state standards to the Common Core. However, since the changes are about more than a tweak here and a shift there, it’s going to take the collective efforts of lots of people inside and outside the state to make this work.

A couple good resources that educators and other stakeholders can access include (but are by no means limited to):

• Common Core Video Series – explanatory videos of what the Common Core is and instructional shifts necessary
• Common Core Works – informational videos, exemplar lessons, and other materials for both novices and experts to help them dig in to the standards
• LearnZillion – short video lessons for each standard and supporting resources for educators
• Better Lesson – lesson plans and instructional resources for educators