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March 2017 - In This Issue
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Greetings everyone,
From individual state changes to Common Core standards to updating international standards like the ACARA standards (from Australia) and the Canadian standards, the last few months have proven to be an exciting time in the educational standards world (really!). The ever-popular Common Core standards still get the most press and the most inquiries here at EdGate. States are carefully chipping away at the Common Core standards, using them as a kind of template as some states make very minor changes while others make more substantial modifications. In addition to acting as a standards watchdog, EdGate is helping publishers understand how standards compare state-to-state and where your curriculum gaps may be. Please see details below about EdGate's Custom Reporting tool.
As always, EdGate is your source for staying current with new developments in education and the impact of educational standards.
Regards,
Gina Faulk
EdGate General Manager
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 Hot Topic
State Changes to CCSS
According to a recent analysis by Abt Associates, a global leader in research, of the 46 states that originally adopted Common Core State Standards, 21 states have finalized revisions or have revision processes underway.
The Abt team identified and analyzed nine states - Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, and Utah - that had revised, or proposed to revise CCSS. The changes made to math and ELA standards in these states retained the original standards as adopted, and focused on clarifying the standards already in place. Some revisions were simply wording or formatting changes, while others added new skills to existing standards or required new standards at different grade levels.
Across all grade levels in mathematics, these states revised 26.5 percent of the standards, while 73.5 percent of the standards were unchanged. Eight of the nine states added a combined total of 51 math standards.
ELA revisions were similar, with 23 percent of ELA standards revised and 77 percent left unchanged. States added fewer new standards in ELA, with only six new standards added across all nine states. The most common changes were clarification changes, intended to make the standards easier for educators to understand and use - not to alter the substance or content. States were more likely to add skills than to delete them.
For more information on changing standards, visit the EdTech Times article
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Client Solution
Using OER to fill your Gaps
Years ago EdGate created the
Curriculum Matrix
in response to an urgent need by teachers to access a repository complete with high-quality, vetted, open educational resources that were aligned to standards. Year after year EdGate has built upon this repository and it now houses hundreds of thousands of grade-specific OER from a multitude of renowned publishers, all aligned to countless numbers of educational standards, including supplemental and international standards.
But these resources are not just open to teachers.
Increasingly, publishers are finding that superior OER can be used as a way to fill gaps in their own curriculum. For instance, a publisher might have an outstanding science program, but the curriculum doesn't quite meet every NGSS standard. It's understood that the district is going to require that the submitted content aligns with each and every NGSS standard. Or perhaps you are looking to diversify and supplement the type of content you have by adding OER videos or OER interactives. There are countless reasons and ways in which to fill your gaps with OER.
Would you like a demo of the Curriculum Matrix? Contact your EdGate sales representative for more information about EdGate's library of OERs.
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Teaching Trends
Standards Encourage Collaboration with Scientific Community
As schools work to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, scientists are rethinking how to work with schools to create interest in and strengthen understanding of the field.
Science education is about more than STEM careers. In fact, as David Evans, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, notes, "everyone needs to know how to look at evidence and engage in the practices of science."
The next-generation of standards will create new opportunities for partnerships between scientists and educators. One specific example of this is better integration of teaching scientific concepts with the daily procedures and practices of science. This can be seen in the case of Alicia Alonzo, an associate professor of physics education at Michigan State University and a 2017 early-career-award winner. Alonzo, is working with a group of teachers to incorporate scientific practices into content being taught about force and motion in a 9th grade physical-science course. Students independently explore the concepts and build on their findings. As the teachers work through their lessons, Alonzo interviews students and conducts assessments, sharing insight with teachers on how students are thinking about the concepts and classwork.
According to Evans, "Scientists are often enthusiastic about their fields, but many are not skilled at communicating to a nonscientific audience, particularly young students." This new trend of scientists working with teachers to create lessons has a higher chance of success than attempting to make new standards fit areas they want to teach.
Visit Education Week's article for more information about how standards are inspiring collaborations between teachers and scientists.
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EdGate Services
Need a Custom Report to meet your Client's Requirements?
However, every job is different and every customer has specific needs; that's where our Custom Reports come in.
Here are some popular custom report types:
- Standard to Standard Gap Report - Are you curious how the Common Core standards compare to the TEKS standards? Compare standards state-to-state or compare a set of standards to several states.
- Custom Display - Do you need to display your correlation report using a very strict structure? Tell us what you need and we'll work together to create a mockup for your review.
- Order is everything - Does your client need data in a specific order? No problem.
- Metadata attributes - Sometimes unique metadata attributes need to be displayed, e.g. price.
Custom reports are useful when responding to Department of Education or other government RFP requirements or to respond to unique school district sales opportunities.
Tell us your dimensions, metrics, required display and we will work closely with you to fulfill your specific conditions.
Please contact us to learn more about how EdGate can help with custom reporting.
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Gina Faulk
General Manager
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Tracy Olstad,
Senior Account Executive
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Thank you to this month's newsletter contributor, Joan Frank!
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Standards Update
Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include:
- Arkansas Science (2016 Grades 9-12) Implemented 2017-2018
- Arkansas Science Accelerated Chemistry (2016 Grades 9-12)
- Australian Curriculum ACARA Standards Social Studies (2016 Grades K-10)
- British Columbia Health & PE (2016 Grades K-9)
- New York Chemistry Standards (2005 Grades 9-12)
- New York Prekindergarten (2011 PK)
- Ontario Health & PE (2015 Grades 1-12)
- Tennessee Language Arts (2016 Grades K-12)
- Tennessee Math (2016 Grades K-12)
https://www.facebook.com/EdGateCorrelationServices/
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About Us
EdGate Correlation Services works with over 200 content providers to increase the value of their products in a
rapidly expanding
digital world. EdGate uses its patented technology and highly skilled staff to assure client success. Employing its nearly two decades of innovation experience, EdGate has proven learning platforms, robust metadata tools and
comprehensive correlation services to serve every clients unique needs.
EdGate currently focuses on correlation consulting, content and metadata development and management, media segmentation and licensing of international educational standards. EdGate Correlation Services LLC is a division of EDmin, Inc., a learning management and instructional technology solutions company based in San Diego, California.
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