McREL's Common Core, Simply Better books published

Denver—Now that the school year is well underway, does it feel like your school or district has taken on too much? Or maybe not the right things? Two books written by McREL authors and recently published by ASCD can help focus your school or district on what it needs to be doing now and how best to do it.

If you are in one of the 44 states that have adopted Common Core standards, Understanding Common Core State Standards lays out the essential information: the history of the standards movement, what the new standards look like, their benefits, concerns you may have, and how to prepare for implementation. Written by McREL standards expert John Kendall, this booklet is the first in a series that will help educators transition and make the most of this new teaching and learning opportunity.

Each new school year provides an opportunity for every student to succeed but, as the weeks go by, it seems more complicated—or is it? Simply Better: Doing What Matters Most to Change the Odds for Student Success by McREL’s Bryan Goodwin looks at what we already know works in classrooms, schools, and after-school programs as well as what works for school leaders, and distills them into five key areas of the What Matters Most framework. Using narratives, real-life examples, and research findings, Goodwin asserts that, to improve the chances of success for all children, educators don’t need to do more; in fact, they may actually need to do less.

Both books are available through ASCD.