Standards Alone Don't Improve Learning . . . Teachers Do!

In the April 18th, 2012 edition of Education Week, an article reviewing the potential effectiveness of the new standards said, “Standards that simply sit on a shelf are certain to have no effect.  Solid curricula, excellent teaching, good assessment, sound accountability systems and many other things must fall into place for the promise of standards to be realized.”  Preparing teachers and aligning curricula to the new standards is a complex issue and doesn’t begin with an assessment or by adopting new textbooks; teachers serve an important role.  The level of rigor for learning is much higher with the new Common Core State Standards and engaging teachers early on means a better understanding by these crucial stakeholders as well as better buy-in.