California school districts having trouble getting their arms around the elephant known as Common Core now have a 60-page guide to help them focus.
The first edition of the Leadership Planning Guide to implement the Common Core standards and assessments was published last week by the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association with help from other organizations representing the teachers, school boards, school administrators, charter schools and parents.
“The Planning Guide emphasizes a team approach to Common Core implementation and features quick links to a wealth of resources from California and across the nation,” said David Gordon, superintendent of schools for the Sacramento County Office of Education, which took a leading role in the publication. “It’s a quick read and should be helpful to districts well along the road to implementation as well as those just starting out.”
The Planning Guide lists 10 components that districts must act on to create an effective Common Core implementation plan.
The guide breaks down the path to adopting Common Core standards in math and English language arts into 10 basic components, from professional development to curriculum development and technology support. An appendix has a checklist for each category for districts to mark their progress.
The 10 components are:
1. “Capacity building and leadership development” at the district office and among principals and teachers to support collaboration and professional learning;
2. “Communication and stakeholder engagement” through an outreach plan to inform the community about the new standards;
3. Review of curriculum and instruction to create a coherent curriculum, taking advantage of the pending