New Model Core Teaching Standards Released for Public Comment

On July 17th, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) unveiled new model core teaching standards for public comment. The original teacher standards, created in 1992, focused on the assessment and support of beginning teachers and were incorporated into state regulation in at least 38 states, providing the basis for teacher education, initial certification, and tenure decisions.

A major change to the new core teaching standards is that they now are standards of professional practice for all teachers. They also represent a new vision of teaching that imagines increased focus on 21st century knowledge and skills, personalized learning, a collaborative professional culture, improved assessment literacy, and new roles for teachers and administrators. The new standards are not broken down by content area, grade level, or grade span. (See the draft discussion document on policy implications for more information.)

The draft core teaching standards are open for public comment between now and October 15, 2010. We encourage high school improvement-oriented leaders, including teachers, to review the standards and submit your comments before the October 15th deadline. In doing so, please consider the following questions: What is your impression of how the standards might support high school improvement? Do you think the model core teaching standards successfully capture a comprehensive and complex view of teaching and learning at the high school level?

Given the potential uses of the core teaching standards, we have invited CCSSO to author a series of blog entries for us this week to describe how the vision applies to the unique context of high school.

Note: This blog post was originally authored under the auspices of the National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The National High School Center’s blog, High School Matters, which ran until March 2013, provided an objective perspective on the latest research, issues, and events that affected high school improvement. The CCRS Center plans to continue relevant work originally developed under the National High School Center grant. National High School Center blog posts that pertain to CCRS Center issues are included on this website as a resource to our stakeholders.