The Common Core as Lever for Advancing Equity and Excellence

Posted by on December 02, 2013

One district tackles the Common Core

A new article in Strategies Magazine examines the work that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district in North Carolina has undertaken to build capacity for the Common Core State Standards for all its students in all classrooms. Charlotte-Mecklenburg has over 141,000 students at 159 schools, with a student population that is 42 percent African American, 32 percent white, 18 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Asian, and 3 percent American Indian or multiracial. Fifty-four percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The district determined that without systemic shifts, a piecemeal response to the Common Core would intensify inequities for its students. Its Common Core Steering Committee includes principals at all levels, community superintendents, and representatives of all content areas, special education, Limited English Proficiency, accountability, professional development, and communications. Principals serve as building-level instructional leaders who deliver a common focus, using common language around common activities. Each school’s leadership team includes a literacy facilitator, an academic facilitator, or an assistant principal of instruction. With the support of the Curriculum and Instruction Department, teachers were divided into grade-level groups and engaged in professional development around mastery of given standards. To foster buy-in, the district’s Common Core Comprehensive Communications and Engagement Plan involves four approaches to reaching the wider community: parents, principals and teachers, community partners, and media partners.

http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Resources/Other_Resources/Strategies-Fall-2013.pdf (Scroll to page 3)