As kindergarten has become more widely available in the last several decades, it’s also become more academic. In some districts, full-day kindergarten schedules are packed with back-to-back academic activities and lessons. Between 1998 and 2010, the percentage of kindergarten classrooms with a dramatic play area dropped from nearly 90 percent to 58 percent. They had taken out all the fun to make it more academic,” Turtzo said. MORE

A fourth-grader makes a puppet while his teammate works on writing a script at Mountain View Elementary School in Longmont, Colo. Teachers push [academic] standards into these projects,” and schools don’t “want projects where kids are just an extra set of hands.”. The student-created playground at Mountain View Elementary School in Longmont, Colo. million in 2010) and a Race to the Top grant ($16.6 MORE

Although Illinois adopted Common Core standards in 2010, Berwyn North, a kindergarten through eighth-grade district with 3,084 students , had not yet incorporated the standards when Ayala and her new assistant superintendent, Amy Zaher, were hired in 2012. One way the district is applying this standard is via “number talks,” a math practice that encourages students to discuss and critique math solutions, helping kids develop into flexible and creative mathematical thinkers. MORE

But at Memorial Elementary School , one of two elementary schools in New Hampshire’s Sanborn Regional School District , administrators and teachers are given the freedom to experiment with cutting-edge ideas not in spite of district and state guidelines, but because of them. Two recent state initiatives are defining a set of non academic work habits that contribute to student success , and developing a statewide performance-based assessment system. MORE

curriculum market shifted towards purchasing materials aligned materials to Common Core and state academic standards, the organization began building new offerings based on these U.S. standards. Founded by former Kaplan executive Jonathan Grayer, Weld North has purchased 16 companies since 2010. This week, two online math instructional developers found themselves in the crosshairs of private equity firms. MORE

In 2008, a few years after Hurricane Katrina, school officials in Louisiana asked aspiring charter-school leader Andrew Shahan to consider taking over the failing Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School in New Orleans’ Upper 9th Ward. About one-third of applications were either unavailable for review or failed to include clear numerical academic goals. She expected much more than ‘You’re going to meet state standards,’” he said. MORE

Small-group math work at Prairie Oak Elementary in Berwyn North School District 98 where, two years ago, just 14 percent of third-graders were able to do grade-level math. Although Illinois adopted Common Core standards in 2010, Berwyn North, a kindergarten through eighth-grade district with 3,084 students , had not yet incorporated the standards when Ayala and her new assistant superintendent, Amy Zaher, were hired in 2012. MORE

that include rigorous, robust, and well-rounded curriculum aligned with college- and career-ready standards (as defined in this document) that cover a wide range of academic and technical knowledge and skills to ensure that students leave high school ready for college and careers. College- and career-ready standards. Information about how digital learning content assesses, teaches, and depends on (requires) common content standards such as State academic standards. MORE

Field Elementary teacher Jessica Rockhold works with Remy Campbell on a smart board in her classroom. Since Kentucky became the first state to adopt the Common Core in 2010, the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers has widened slightly – despite sweeping expectations the more rigorous standards would help eliminate disparities in academic performance. That’s a very exciting thing … watching them academically really open up. MORE