Since you pay such rapt attention to this blog, you already know that the first public draft of the grade-by-grade common standards is supposed to come out this week. And tomorrow’s the scheduled release day. We will have a story on www.edweek.org, and we’ll blog about it in this space, too. But starting early tomorrow morning, before that stuff happens, there are a few webinars you might want to catch if you are interested in common standards.
The National PTA is holding its annual legislative conference, and focusing a large chunk of its Wednesday morning on common standards. On this site, you will be able to see webinars at 8 a.m., 9:45 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. (all Eastern standard time) on topics related to the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
The 8 a.m. session is about motivating parents to support the initiative, and the 9:45 a.m. session focuses on state strategies. The 12:30 p.m. session actually starts with something on another topic—an appearance by first lady Michelle Obama talking about her campaign against childhood obesity. But it also includes a high-level panel on common standards, which runs from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Panelists include Thelma Melendez, the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education; and two men who have been leading the common-core initiative, Gene Wilhoit of the Council of Chief State School Officers and Dane Linn of the National Governors Association.
By the time that afternoon panel convenes, the K-12 public draft of the common standards should already be posted for viewing and comment on the initiative’s Web site (www.corestandards.org).