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Gates Foundation Ups Stake in Common Core Standards
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is upping its financial support for Common Core State Standards. The foundation awarded $3 million to ASCD to support that group's efforts to help education leaders and educators themselves understand the standards and implement them.
Common Core State Standards have been adopted by most states and several territories in the United States. Common Core State Standards are designed to provide a national, standardized set of academic standards as an alternative to those previously developed by the states on an individual basis.
ASCD, formerly known as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, is a group focused on leadership and professional development activities in education. ASCD reported it will "convene a series of meetings across the country to hear from educators about what they need for successful implementation" of the standards and will also provide teachers with access to materials that will help them teach to the standards and "translate the standards into multiple instructional techniques to ensure teacher understanding of the underlying concepts targeted in the common core standards."
"ASCD is uniquely positioned to assist with the country's common core standards implementation," said ASCD CEO Gene R. Carter in a statement released by the group recently. "Because rapid adoption of the common core standards has outstripped both professional and public understanding of the standards and their potential for changing the learning and teaching paradigm, it is essential that district and school leaders have the opportunity to learn about the standards and raise questions that will help guide their transition, implementation, and communication strategies. Our diverse membership and experience in providing quality professional development can help educators make successful common core standards implementation a reality."
Further information about the initiative can be found here.