The state teachers union is teaming up with Stanford University to train 160 teachers in the best way to teach the new Common Core standards. Those teachers will then train 50,000 more.
California schools are already deep in teaching the Common Core standards, which include a list of skills and knowledge children should learn in each grade level, with a focus on critical thinking and writing (even in math).
Yet training for teachers in some districts has been slow in coming as textbooks and instructional materials are still in development.
The California Teachers Association is spearheading this with the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and the university’s National Board Resource Center. The S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, Stuart Foundation, National Education Association and California Education Policy Fund are funding the joint effort.
“This groundbreaking partnership is about CTA members at their best – transforming our profession by strengthening instruction and curricular content and reclaiming our role in designing and developing effective learning methods for each other and our students,” CTA President Dean Vogel said in a statement. “Educators have a professional responsibility to drive this collaborative agenda because, at the end of the day, we’re about improving teacher quality and building better learning environments for our kids.”
The effort is among many in the state to address the overhaul of how math and English are taught in the state’s public schools.
A consortium of states and other educational organizations announced in November a joint effort to produce free open source curriculum aligned with the Common Core.
