The Curriculum Improvement Institute is an American-based, non-profit, 501 (c) 3 research and training organization founded in 2008 by Michael Rush, Kevin Baird Peg Portscheller [1] and Jim Lehman. [2] The Institute primarily supports regional and national conferences and professional development focused upon the alignment of K-12 instruction to standards.
The Curriculum Improvement Institute has worked closely with the Council of Chief State School Officers and their Survey of Enacted Curriculum project, which represents one of the largest research-based initiatives exploring the implementation of standards-based education. The original Survey of Enacted Curriculum research was funded by the National Science Foundation and several school districts and state Departments of the Education continue to participate in the project.
In 2010, with the publication of the Common Core State Standards by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governor’s Association, the Institute turned its attention to development of an implementation pathway for the new Common Core State Standards based in part upon the research of the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum and the combined works of Dr. Andrew Porter, Dr. Rolf Blank, and the University of Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
The Curriculum Improvement Institute is the project lead and home of the Global Center for College & Career Readiness, focused upon the development of College & Workplace ready students in grades P-20 around the world. Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kevin Baird, actively engages with governments, school organizations, community leaders and both private and public funders to focus efforts on instructional and community development practices to support improved graduation rates for more highly skilled young people.
The Curriculum Improvement Institute and the Global Center for College & Career Readiness actively partner with other organizations, public and private, to create pragmatic, sustainable practices supporting the implementation of educational best practices worldwide. They are co-authors of the National Implementation Pathway for Common Core State Standards, a variety of materials for the classroom focused upon the Common Core State Standards, and are producers of the National Conference on Common Core State Standards.
In 2011, the Global Center for College & Career Readiness partnered with international Soccer celebrity and philanthropist, David Bascome, to bring College & Career Ready development programs to Bermuda and across the Caribbean. [3] The Curriculum Improvement Institute and the Center for College & Career Readiness support Black Belt Certification programs in Common Core State Standards and College-Career Ready Development. Its programs have been accredited by Purdue University, where Dr. Jim Lehman has served as a faculty member and Dean and by the University of Southern California.
In education, a curriculum is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experiences in terms of the educator's or school's instructional goals. A curriculum may incorporate the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives. Curricula are split into several categories: the explicit, the implicit, the excluded, and the extracurricular.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC) is a public school district located in Columbus, Indiana. Its boundaries include all but two townships in Bartholomew County, Indiana. BCSC serves 11,000+ students on 18 campuses. 11 elementary, 3 high school, 2 middle school, 1 early childhood center, and 1 adult education center. BCSC School Board officers are President Jill Shedd, Vice-President Nicole Wheeldon, and Secretary Rich Stenner. BCSC is led by Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts.
Ready schools are schools that seek to meet the unique needs of the students and families they serve. The concept of ready schools is part of the larger school readiness movement, which seeks to better prepare children for school and schools for children.
Core-Plus Mathematics is a high school mathematics program consisting of a four-year series of print and digital student textbooks and supporting materials for teachers, developed by the Core-Plus Mathematics Project (CPMP) at Western Michigan University, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Development of the program started in 1992. The first edition, entitled Contemporary Mathematics in Context: A Unified Approach, was completed in 1995. The third edition, entitled Core-Plus Mathematics: Contemporary Mathematics in Context, was published by McGraw-Hill Education in 2015.
Sandra Stotsky is Professor emerita in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, and held the 21st Century Chair in Teacher Quality. Her research ranges from teacher licensure tests, e.g., (1), coherence in the literature and reading curriculum, e.g., (2), and academic achievement in single-sex classrooms, e.g., (3) to critiques of Common Core’s standards in English language arts, e.g., (4) mathematics.(5), and US History and civic education (6), and other aspects of the Common Core project, e.g., (7), and to reviews of books in education, e.g., (8) She is an advocate of standards-based reform and strong academic standards and assessments for students and teachers.
The Maryland School for the Blind (MSB) is a school in Baltimore for children and youth who are blind or Low-vision, including those with multiple disabilities.
Connected Mathematics is a comprehensive mathematics program intended for U.S. students in grades 6-8. The curriculum design, text materials for students, and supporting resources for teachers were created and have been progressively refined by the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) at Michigan State University with advice and contributions from many mathematics teachers, curriculum developers, mathematicians, and mathematics education researchers.
Arts integration differs from traditional education by its inclusion of both the arts discipline and a traditional subject as part of learning The goal of arts integration is to increase knowledge of a general subject area while concurrently fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the fine and performing arts. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts defines arts integration as "an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject and meets evolving objectives in both."
The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) is a state agency in Rhode Island that oversees the elementary and secondary education system from pre-Kindergarten through high school. It is headquartered in Providence. RIDE works closely with the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner (RIOPC), the agency charged with overseeing higher education. Together, RIDE and RIOPC aim to provide an aligned, cohesive, and comprehensive education for all students.
Efforts to teach writing in primary and secondary schools in the United States at a national scale and using methods other than direct teacher-student tutorial were first implemented in the 19th century.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, is an educational initiative from 2010 that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the conclusion of each school grade. The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers.
The Penn State College of Engineering is the engineering school of the Pennsylvania State University, headquartered at the University Park campus in University Park, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1896, under the leadership of George W. Atherton. Today, with 13 academic departments and degree programs, over 11,000 enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, and research expenditures of $124 million for the 2016-2017 academic year, the Penn State College of Engineering is in the top 20 of engineering schools in the United States. It is estimated that at least one out of every fifty engineers in the United States got their bachelor's degree from Penn State. Dr. Justin Schwartz currently holds the position of Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering.
The Partnerships Advancing Library Media (PALM) Center is a research institute at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. The center was established as a joint effort of the FSU Learning Systems Institute, College of Communication and Information and the College of Education. The Center engages in research and evaluation focused on school librarians ranging from large-scale surveys and evaluation of program implementation, to case studies of school libraries.
The Global Center for College & Career Readiness is an international non-profit NGO focused upon the development of sustainable community-focused capacity building for increased graduation rates and childhood skill development across grades P-20. Founded in the United States, the Center works around the world with consultants who directly interface with governments, school organizations, community development agencies and funders to focus efforts on classroom best practices and direct community support for school effectiveness. The Center is a project of the U.S.-based Curriculum Improvement Institute, founded by educators Michael Rush, Kevin Baird, Peg Portscheller and Jim Lehman.
The Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) is a computer adaptive test which measures a student's level of preparedness for college-level courses. The test is currently being used by all Florida high schools and the 28 members of the Florida College System. The PERT was created by McCann Associates in cooperation with Florida educators. The test is divided into three sections: Mathematics, Reading, and Writing.
46 states initially adopted the Common Core State Standards, although implementation has not been uniform. At least 12 states have introduced legislation to repeal the standards outright, and 5 have since withdrawn from the standards.
Phil Weinberg is the Deputy Chief Academic Officer for Teaching and Learning at the New York City Department of Education. In this role, Weinberg oversees initiatives to strengthen instruction and enhance student learning across the City's 1600+ district schools.
21st century skills comprise skills, abilities, and learning dispositions that have been identified as being required for success in 21st century society and workplaces by educators, business leaders, academics, and governmental agencies. This is part of a growing international movement focusing on the skills required for students to master in preparation for success in a rapidly changing, digital society. Many of these skills are also associated with deeper learning, which is based on mastering skills such as analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, and teamwork. These skills differ from traditional academic skills in that they are not primarily content knowledge-based.
ACT, Inc. is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, primarily known for the ACT, a standardized test designed to assess high school students' academic achievement and college readiness. For the U.S. high school graduating class of 2019, 52 percent of graduates had taken the ACT test; the more than 1.78 million students included virtually all high school graduates in 17 states.
Teachers College Reading and Writing Project was founded and is directed by Lucy Calkins, The Robinson Professor of Children's Literature at Teachers College, Columbia University. Its mission is to help young people become avid and skilled readers, writers, and inquirers through research, curriculum development, and in-school professional development. TCRWP develops methods and tools for the teaching of reading and writing through research, curriculum development published through Heinemann, and professional development with teachers and school leaders. TCRWP supports the Reading Workshop and Writers Workshop approaches through its Units of Study curriculum. The project involves thousands of schools and teachers in New York and around the country in an ongoing, multi-faceted in-service community of practitioners engaged in the application and continual refinement of approaches to helping children become effective writers and readers.