Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with Linda Darling-Hammond. She is being honored by Teaching Matters as our 2011 Champion of Education and Innovation.  Below is an abridged transcript of our conversation on key issues in today's education landscape -- Common Core, Assessment, Teacher Quality and America's commitment to real education reform.  

Guastaferro: In a recent speech, you mention several high performing school systems in other countries organizing their curriculum around problem solving and critical thinking skills.  Would you say the US is moving in that direction with the adoption of Common Core standards? 

Darling-Hammond: I think that there is certainly a lot of good language in the common core about good critical thinking skills and problem solving and so on, but the end result is going to depend on many other factors. It's going to depend on what we do around building curriculum materials, it depends on whether we transform assessments in very important ways. It depends on what we do about professional development for teachers and for school leaders, because you can implement the common core curriculum in a way that is much more focused on higher order learning skills or you can implement the common core in a way that just replicates a lot of the more...

“The challenge confronting public education is not recruiting more good people to an ineffective system, but rather creating powerful systems that allow ordinary people to achieve success.”
     -Richard Dufour and Robert J. Marzano

In almost all professions, except education, it is understood that group collaboration is the fastest way to excellence and innovation. In the medical field, research indicates patients perceive a higher quality of care in group versus solo practice. Trends in scientific research also point toward the benefits of teamwork. Thomas M. Koulopoulos, author of The Innovation Zone: How Great Companies Re-Innovate for Amazing Success, looked at Nobel prize recipients in the physical sciences and found that “[i]n the first fifty years of the twentieth century, thirty-nine Nobel prizes were awarded to individuals and four to teams. In the second fifty years, thirty-three were awarded to individuals as opposed to thirty-six for teams.” The problems of our day are more complex and group work toward a common goal is becoming a necessary factor for success...

Teaching Matters’ work was recently featured in a WNYC News report about academic gains being made by students at Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School. Over 90 percent of Juniors passed this year’s English and US History Regents exams, with comparable gains seen among Sophomores who took the Science Regents. Teaching Matters has worked in partnership with Chelsea High School for three years to help build a school culture of professional learning, planning and collaboration.

During the 2010-2011 school year, Senior Educational Consultants Jelbin DeLaCruz and Judith LeFevre worked with 18 teachers across grade levels and subject areas, with a specific focus on improving student writing outcomes. DeLaCruz and LeFevre supported staff in the creation of grade specific writing prompts and rubrics, aligning the curriculum to the school’s instructional priorities. Using Writing Matters as a model, the school administered a baseline writing assessment to identify deficiencies and strengths among the student population. Throughout the year, teams came together to check-in on student progress and revise instructional resources as needed. According to DeLaCruz, “When we administered the end-of-year...

NEW YORK, June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/--What are the Common Core State Standards and how will this new initiative affect instruction in our schools? In an effort to support school leaders in designing learning environments that produce career and college ready learners, Teaching Matters' Fourth Annual Summer Forum for Principals will feature a discussion about the implications of the Common Core State Standards on curriculum and assessment. Bena Kallick, co-author of Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning, will facilitate an interactive conversation entitled, "Learner at the Core: How Common Core Reshapes our Thinking about Assessment.” The forum will take place on Monday, July 11, 2011 at 475 Riverside Drive at 1:30PM.  

Following the talk, the first annual Elizabeth Rohatyn Prize for School Innovation will be awarded to one of the five finalist schools, chosen from a field of over 100 nominations. Elizabeth Rohatyn, a champion of public education in New York City, will be on hand to present the Prize to the principal of the winning school. The recipient of the Rohatyn Prize will receive a one-time award of $15,000 to support, sustain or further an innovative school learning environment, program or practice that promotes academic rigor and has the potential to be replicated by other schools.

The Summer Forum for Principals is one component of Teaching Matters' Innovative Principal Program...