Full disclosure right up front: I am about to engage in shameless promotion of my employer.
I want to let you know that edweek.org is holding an online chat about common standards at 3 p.m. today, and suggest that you participate. Even if EdWeek didn’t issue my paychecks, I would be telling you that this chat will be informative. And the more people get online and ask thought-provoking questions, the more interesting it will be.
The chat is a great way to come up to speed if you’ve been hearing about the common standards initiative but haven’t had the time to look into what’s up with that. For those of you who have been following the initiative closely, the chat will offer an opportunity to plumb the brains of someone intimately involved with the effort (Gene Wilhoit, the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, one of the groups coordinating it) and someone who’s raised a number of questions about the wisdom of common standards (writer Alfie Kohn).
You can participate in the chat here. If you can’t participate live, you can always check back later and read the archived conversation. A terrific special issue on common standards, this year’s Quality Counts report, is also good reading on this topic.