Welcome to the Spring 2020 edition of the CORE Academic Quarterly newsletter! In this edition of the Academic Quarterly, the Reading Expert dives into the benefits of explicit spelling instruction and shares what that looks like in the practice. The Marvelous Mathematician shares six recommended approaches and some helpful resources to foster greater student engagement […]

Reading is a complex process, but it can be explained through a simple equation built around five foundations of reading. It’s critical that educators understand the science behind how students learn to read and what skills they need to succeed in order to teach students to be skilled readers. At CORE, we care deeply about […]

Ann Leon, CORE consultant specialist in Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Sight words (SIPPS) reading foundational skills program, could not leave Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s primary grade teachers and children without resources. Even when she was to leave and the schools were closing, Ann worked tirelessly with the district personnel to ensure […]

by Susan Van Zant and Nancy Volpe, Educational Services Specialists, CORE What can be done to maximize the time that students are in school? There is no mystery about time. Students attend school a set number of hours each week and days each year. At each grade level they have a lot of skills and […]

COVID-19 is having a profound impact on our nation’s schools, students and educators. We are monitoring the situation closely and working with our school partners to be responsive to their unique needs. We are using technology where possible to continue to provide professional learning to the educators we serve. Free Professional Learning Resources We offer […]

Implementing a new curriculum is a challenging process. Often the organization, layout, and even the instructional approach can be drastically different from the previously used curriculum. Change takes time, especially if that change includes learning new instructional practices. Taguma and Barrera (2019) cite teacher commitment, beliefs, and content and pedagogical understanding of the new curriculum […]

Every day, we wake up to new stories about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). More than a decade ago, there were similar headlines about another pandemic, the swine flu (H1N1), as it spread from Mexico into the United States. At that time, I oversaw student services, including nursing and medical services, for the San […]

CORE’s Director of Mathematics, Dean Ballard, was in Las Vegas Feb. 25 – 28 for this year’s NABE conference. If you missed his session or just missed getting the handouts, we’ve got them here for you! Twenty Techniques to Increase Access to Solving Math Word Problems Slide Deck Handouts

During the 2017–18 school year CORE provided professional development and technical assistance to elementary teachers and administrators in Pajaro Valley Unified School District implementing, in addition to their broader English Language Arts instruction, the Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Sight words (SIPPS) reading foundational skills program. SEG Measurement looked at the reading performance […]

By Dean Ballard, Director of Mathematics, CORE When I started teaching math 35 years ago, chapter tests were easy to grade. Typically, a test had 20–25 problems and I simply made each problem worth four or five points, whatever was needed to make the total 100 points. In many math curricula today, there may be […]

Welcome to the Winter 2020 edition of the CORE Academic Quarterly newsletter! In this edition of the Academic Quarterly, the Reading Expert discusses how to close gaps for older, struggling readers through diagnostic assessment and specific intervention strategies. The Marvelous Mathematician shares why vocabulary in math is so important and the challenges students face when […]

Recently, there have been many responses to Lucy Calkins’ essay ”No One Gets to Own the Term, Science of Reading.” Many have responded with strong disagreement to her point of view. Two of the responses are very informative and can be found here and here. More disputes to her essay can be found here. Interestingly, […]

Implementing a new curriculum is a daunting task. Often the organization, layout, and even the instructional approach can be drastically different than the previously used curriculum. Change takes time, especially if that change includes learning new instructional approaches. Therefore, the first year or two of implementing a new curriculum may be focused on changing instructional […]

I left graduate school fully convinced that this was axiomatic: The road to reading is paved on a foundation of meaning. Fortunately, I spent the first years after my degree as a first grade teacher in a bilingual school, teaching, or at least trying to teach, reading in English and in Spanish. I learned from […]

Welcome to the Fall 2019 edition of the CORE Academic Quarterly newsletter! In this edition of the Academic Quarterly, the Reading Expert discusses a few ways that educators can distinguish between a true reading disability and English language development challenges in English learners. The Marvelous Mathematician shares the important role note taking plays in helping […]