Welcome to the Spring 2022 edition of the CORE Academic Quarterly newsletter! In this edition of the Academic Quarterly, the Reading Expert resurfaces an important topic related to the language comprehension portion of Scarborough’s Reading Rope—language structures, or syntax. The Marvelous Mathematician explores how developing teachers as self-directed learners can help organizations make the necessary […]

Professional learning and job-embedded coaching on how to deliver explicit reading instruction are essential to improving literacy outcomes for all students. But just as critical is the use of high-quality, evidence-based reading curricula, particularly when supporting striving readers at all grade levels. In a time when one in three K–3 students require major and systemic […]

The newest front in the never-ending wars and squabbles over how to teach reading involves English language learners (EL), students learning to read (and write) in English while simultaneously learning to speak and understand it. In the wake of renewed prominence of research supporting an early focus on phonics and decoding (aka the “science of […]

A Remembrance by Linda Diamond, former President of CORE Learning Almost 28 years ago while I was a senior policy analyst, sitting in my office at RPP International, a California education public policy think tank, I heard a commanding voice berating my boss, Paul Berman, for failing to address the most important policy issue of […]

Over the last few years, I’ve worked to support elementary teachers across several states with the teaching and learning of mathematics. Many times, the most meaningful activities I model in classrooms are those that build fluency and number sense. Almost everyone believes that learning how to read and being able to read fluently with comprehension […]

Welcome to the Winter 2022 edition of the CORE Academic Quarterly newsletter! In this edition of the Academic Quarterly, the Reading Expert provides recommendations for Tier 2 reading interventions in a time when universal screening data show that upwards of 80 percent of first- and second-grade students are performing below grade level on foundational literacy […]

100 AK educators will have the opportunity to strengthen their science of reading instructional practices  Portland, Ore., Oakland, Calif., Juneau, Alaska – February 3, 2022 – NWEA, CORE® and Alaska Staff Development Network (ASDN),  in partnership with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), announced today a new learning, collaboration, and coaching program […]

We all know it, but we still don’t want to believe it. Many of our students have fallen further and further behind in reading after nearly two years of disrupted learning. A report by McKinsey & Company, “COVID-19 and Education: The Lingering Effects of Unfinished Learning” (July 2021), estimates that on average students started this […]

Free Half-Day Event: Tuesday, October 19 | 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PT Join us for The California Reading Coalition’s First Annual Virtual Gathering. CORE, Pivot Learning and literacy leaders across California will share the opportunities and challenges to improve reading instruction and outcomes for all our students. The Annual Gathering is designed to be […]

Scholars in public and charter schools across the nation are teetering on the brink of a COVID academic cliff. The conversation is no longer about a summer slide but of a pandemic pit many of our children will not rebound from without focused, strategic, and coordinated effort. A yawning literacy gap persists and is expanding […]

Enhance your practice with CORE’s 2021-22 free professional learning webinar series. From word problems and evidence-based practices in reading instruction to culturally responsive teaching, our webinars are a convenient and free way to build your knowledge. Watch them on your own or as part of your PLC. Everyone is welcome!

by Susan Van Zant and Nancy Volpe, Senior Literacy Specialists, CORE As the current school year comes to an end, primary teachers are beginning to look ahead to the fall and plan for filling in the gaps of any unfinished learning. They may need to review the basics of phonological awareness with students. Phonological awareness […]

We are excited to share that Robert Sheffield will be joining our team as the incoming President of CORE, Inc.. Robert shares our commitment to improving outcomes for historically underserved students. He has devoted his career to building the skills of educators to improve student academic outcomes through his time as an executive at WestEd […]

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) regularly convenes reading experts to review every textbook used by teacher preparation programs in their required reading coursework. The Teaching Reading Sourcebook was listed in 2020 Teacher Prep Review as one of 10 textbooks that comprehensively and rigorously cover the scientific basis and instructional elements of the five essential […]

Do you have a truly intensive intervention of sufficient time and duration? Are the adolescents in your intensive reading intervention programs not making significant gains in their reading abilities? Linda Diamond — author of the Teaching Reading Sourcebook — shares what’s needed to ensure students with low reading skills benefit and eventually exit from intensive […]