Math Solutions Introduces New Titles for CCSS Prep

The Common Core State Standards offer the benefit of ensuring that all students receive the levels of instruction that will provide them the tools to be successful adults. However, these new standards create challenges for students and educators alike.

Math Solutions® has introduced five new titles designed to help with the transition to the new CCSS for math:

1. Solving for Why: Understanding, Assessing, and Teaching Students Who Struggle with Math by John Tapper
This title uses a response to intervention (RTI) approach that incorporates mini-assessments and targeted strategies for addressing deficits.  A resource for grades kindergarten through eighth grade.
2. Teaching Preschool and Kindergarten Math: A Multimedia Professional Learning Resource by Ann Carlyle and Brenda Mercado
This resource offers 26 videos and 150 lessons. A resource for pre-K and kindergarten.
3. It Makes Sense! Using the Hundreds Chart to Build Number Sense by Melissa Conklin and Stephanie Sheffield
Designed for kindergarten through second grade, this is the second book in the It Makes Sense! series. The title features games and creative methods of teaching with the CCSS math in mind.
4. It's All Connected: The Power of Representation to Build Algebraic Reasoning by Frances Van Dyke
A resource for older students, grades six through nine, this title focuses on using graphic representation of algebraic concepts. This features forty creative lesson plans.
5. Number Talks: Reproducible Dot Images and Five- and Ten-Frames by Sherry Parrish 
This resource is designed for kindergarten through fifth grade. It features downloadable content with over 250 reproducible exercises for students.

Have you used any of these resources? If so, leave a review in the comments section. If you know of any other resources that can help students and teachers prepare for the Common Core State Standards, share them here too!

Looking to Teachers as Primary Sources for Feedback on Education Reform

Who better to ask about the state of education than teachers themselves? Scholastic has teamed up with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to ask teachers for their feedback on topics such as raising student achievement, teacher evaluation, and providing resources for teachers. Primary Sources: 2012, America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession (PDF) compiles the results of these surveys and offers critical insight into how educators, administrators, and parents can play an important role in improving America’s school system.

The first section of the report focuses on what would boost student achievement. The most important factors identified by teachers were parent involvement and setting high expectations for students. Common standards, a clear curriculum, and strong assessments also appeared on the list. While methods for improving parent involvement could still be addressed, the new Common Core State Standards will introduce a new set of expectations for students at each grade level and will provide focused and coherent guidelines for teachers. Still, many of the teacher respondents feel unprepared for implementing the CCSS.

Twenty-seven percent of teachers surveyed feel somewhat/very unprepared to teach the standards, and only twenty-two percent say they feel very prepared. Among the tools that teachers say they need to effectively implement the CCSS are student-centered technology, formative assessments, and new curricula and learning tools aligned to the Common Core.

Check out the full report for teachers’ views on standardized tests, the growing challenges that students face in and out of the classroom, and how to retain the best teachers. How prepared do you feel for the CCSS? Do you have other ideas for how to make teachers more effective in the classroom?