How to Get Started
- Obtain support and commitment
- Appoint a school-based Core Knowledge Coordinator
(click here for information about the Coordinator position) - Establish weekly common planning time for all teachers
- Establish a sequential reading and math program of proven effectiveness
- Ensure full participation by the building principal, Core Knowledge coordinator, and ALL teachers in the total training program provided by the Core Knowledge Foundation
- Obtain and document the provision of necessary materials and resources in all classrooms
- Complete documentation and assessment information according to established timelines
- Establish a program evaluation plan
- Utilize national networking opportunities
Schedule a Core Knowledge Overview
When considering Core Knowledge implementation, schools should schedule an Overview presentation, provided by the Core Knowledge Foundation. This presentation begins the relationship between your school and the Foundation, helps to answer questions about Core Knowledge, and includes a pre-implementation site visit. The cost of this visit is $500 plus travel-related costs.
Discuss implementation with existing Core Knowledge schools
Visits to existing schools are recommended prior to implementation and are strongly recommended during the first year of implementation. The principal and teacher representatives should visit a school recommended by the Core Knowledge Foundation in order to see Core Knowledge fully implemented. We will attempt to suggest a school in your area, but some travel may be required. You might decide instead to attend the National Core Knowledge Conference, which offers opportunities to visit schools and to network with hundreds of teachers and administrators.
Complete a secret ballot vote
After the Overview presentation, we suggest a secret ballot vote to document the level of staff support and buy-in. A school or school district should obtain a three-year commitment from at least 80% of the teachers involved in the implementation of Core Knowledge. Teachers are expected to teach all of the topics in the Core Knowledge Sequence at the grade levels specified, phasing in topics over two or three years but completing full implementation by the end of the third year. To verify that this level of commitment has been obtained from all involved, the building principal should complete and sign the “Documentation of School Support”, returning it to the Core Knowledge Foundation, after the secret ballot vote.
Obtain central office/district-level support
The school will also need the support of its central and/or district office, so a district representative must also sign the “Documentation of School Support”, asserting that he or she will be responsible for assisting with quality implementation and evaluation of Core Knowledge and answering any district-level questions that may arise during the first three years of implementation.
Once the signed commitment to Core Knowledge has been made, a school-based Core Knowledge coordinator should be appointed. The Core Knowledge Foundation will provide a detailed description of the coordinator's responsibilities. Together with the principal, the coordinator should participate in intensive professional development in on-site coaching, monitoring, and evaluation. The Core Knowledge coordinator will serve as a liaison with the Core Knowledge Foundation and other Core Knowledge schools. The school may choose to designate additional funds and/or planning time to cover the Core Knowledge coordinator's additional duties and responsibilities.
Click here for details about the Core Knowledge Coordinator position.
Common planning time is essential to the success of Core Knowledge implementation. A minimum of 90 minutes a week of uninterrupted planning time (or the equivalent) per grade level team is strongly recommended starting the first year of implementation.
The specific content outlined in the Core Knowledge Sequence constitutes a solid foundation of knowledge in each subject area. This knowledge greatly helps students with their reading, as shown by the fact that reading scores go up in Core Knowledge schools, because wide knowledge enhances students' ability to read diverse kinds of texts with understanding. Teachers need to remember that reading requires two abilities - the ability to turn print into language (decoding) and the ability to understand what the language says. Achieving the first ability - decoding - requires a sequential program, structured to provide guided practice in various formats and frequent review throughout the year. Decoding programs that are premised on scientifically-based research are: Open Court, Reading Mastery, Success for All, and the new California version of Houghton Mifflin's basal.
In addition to teaching decoding skills, a good language arts program will include coherent and interesting readings in the subject areas that enhance comprehension ability. No language arts program currently offers such coherent, substantive material. Therefore, in addition to teaching the language topics in the Core Knowledge Sequence, Core Knowledge teachers are encouraged to substitute solid, interesting non-fictional readings in history and science for many of the short, fragmented stories in the basals, which unfortunately do not effectively enhance reading comprehension.
The specific content outlined in the Core Knowledge Sequence constitutes a solid foundation of knowledge in each subject area. It is also critically important to establish a similar sequential program in mathematics, structured to provide guided practice in various formats and frequent review throughout the year. Mathematics programs that follow sound cognitive principles and therefore lead to greater student mastery are: Singapore Math, Saxon Math, and Direct Instruction mathematics.
All schools implementing Core Knowledge must identify an approved sequential program they will use to teach both reading and math, the date of program initiation, and training plans, if the programs are new. Schools may also apply in writing for approval of other effective reading and math programs that may not be on the Core Knowledge list. Where appropriate, schools will be expected to integrate reading and math skills into the lesson plans in the other content areas.
- Ensure full participation by the building principal, Core Knowledge coordinator, and ALL teachers in the total professional development program provided by the Core Knowledge Foundation.
This training will include a minimum of five full days of professional development and six full days of follow-up visits annually.
Year One
New School Orientation/ Core Knowledge Coordinator and Leadership Institute (2 days)
Objectives:
This workshop is designed to collaboratively teach elementary and middle school principals and Core Knowledge Coordinators how to start Core Knowledge, as well as how to provide the follow-up support necessary to sustain Core Knowledge implementation on their own campuses. The Coordinator & Leadership Institute helps individuals refine their classroom observation and school support skills in order to achieve successful school-wide implementation of Core Knowledge. This workshop is recommended for all principals and Core Knowledge Coordinators, especially those from schools receiving a CSR grant to implement Core Knowledge. Participants will:
- Review the goals of the professional development opportunities offered by the Core Knowledge Foundation, including the development of a yearlong plan that integrates Core Knowledge with local curricula requirements.
- Discuss "what to look for" and practice strategies for evaluating the progress of Core Knowledge in the school, using rubrics, checklists, and self-evaluation forms.
- Discuss strategies for sustaining school-wide implementation of Core Knowledge, including facilitating Core Knowledge curriculum meetings.
Full-Staff Professional Development (5 days):
(These workshop dates can match your professional development days, but at least three consecutive days should be scheduled before the school year begins.)
- Overview of Core Knowledge
- What is Core Knowledge?
- Why is it needed?
- The history of Core Knowledge
- How to teach Core Knowledge
- Results and Benefit
- Getting Started
- Introduction to the Core Knowledge Sequence
- Compare Core Knowledge to what is presently taught
- Develop a school-wide plan for implementation
- Develop a yearlong plan for implementation that integrates Core Knowledge with district and state guidelines
- Develop a month-by-month planning guide
- Inventory current resources & plan for additional resources
- Develop a plan for involving parents and community
- Developing Core Knowledge Lessons & Assessments
- Revise and modify the Baltimore Curriculum Project daily lesson plans to include Core Knowledge content, state and/or district standards and skills
- Examine a variety of assessments, and discuss the interconnectedness of curriculum, assessment, and instruction
- Develop activities, procedures, and assessments to achieve lesson objectives
- Write lessons, based upon the month-by-month guide, for each subject area
Follow-Up Visits from the Core Knowledge Foundation (6 days)
Follow-up visits should be scheduled in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, when students are in school. Core Knowledge consultants will:
- Observe individual classrooms and offer assistance in specific areas
- Confer with the building principal, Core Knowledge coordinator, and grade level groups
Visits to other Core Knowledge schools
The building principal and Core Knowledge coordinator should visit a school fully implementing Core Knowledge, selected by the Core Knowledge Foundation, during their first year of implementation. It is encouraged that other school staff members visit the school as well.
Years Two and Three
Full-Staff Professional Development (5 days)
- New Teacher Orientation
- A brief introduction to Core Knowledge for new staff members
- Orientation to the Core Knowledge Sequence
- Introduction to lesson plan development
- Implementation Analysis
- Review prior year's work and make adjustments in order to achieve 80% implementation by the end of year three
- Review and adjust the yearlong plan and school-wide plan for implementation
- Developing Core Knowledge Units
Teachers will apply the elements learned during Developing Core Knowledge Lessons & Assessments workshop in order to:
- Write units that include concepts, content, and skills
- Develop background knowledge
- Select appropriate resources
- Develop meaningful instructional procedures and activities to meet objectives
- Utilize effective methods of assessment
Follow-Up Visits from the Core Knowledge Foundation (6 days)
Follow-up visits should be scheduled in the fall, winter, and spring, when students are in school. Core Knowledge consultants will:
- Observe individual classrooms and offer assistance in specific areas
- Conference with the building principal, Core Knowledge coordinator, and grade level group
New Staff Training
Schools should allocate additional funds to send new teachers to a weeklong Summer Writing Institute, held during the summer in various locations across the country. Participants move step-by-step through the unit writing process and by the end of the week will have written a new Core Knowledge unit.
The building principal should also allocate a minimum of 5 days of in service for Core Knowledge professional development each year. If the school's calendar does not permit 5 days of professional development, the school should allocate additional funds to pay teachers for summer work. Furthermore, the school principal should contact the Core Knowledge Foundation at least 3 months prior to the start of each school year to schedule the necessary workshops and the three annual follow-up visits. The cost of the annual professional development and follow-up visits is contingent upon the number of participants.
Note: Workshop information and costs listed here pertain to K-8 training only. Preschool teachers are welcome to attend the school-wide K-8 Getting Started training, but should also plan to participate in the comprehensive Core Knowledge training modules designed specifically for preschool teachers. There are separate fees for preschool training. If there are several preschool teachers at your site, it will be most cost-effective to schedule preschool training onsite. If there is only one preschool teacher at your school, it may be more economical to send this teacher for training at the Preschool Institutes immediately prior to the Core Knowledge National Conference each year. Click here for details about preschool training, materials, and fees.
- From the Core Knowledge Foundation
Teacher Kits
Material fees are charged for each workshop and vary according to the number of participants. The fees include:
- One Core Knowledge Sequence per participant
- One Series book (What Your _th Grader Needs to Know) or Dictionary of Cultural Literacy per participant
- One Monthly Topic Organizer per grade level
- 2 Share the Knowledge CDs
- All handouts, plus shipping and handling
School Start-Up Kits vary depending upon the grade levels at your school.
The K-6 School Startup Kit includes:
- One Preschool Sequence
- One K-8 Core Knowledge Sequence
- Uncommon Classroom Video
- One Monthly Topic Organizer
- Cultural Literacy
- The Schools We Need
- Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
- The First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
- One set of the Series books (What Your _th Grader Needs to Know)
- Books to Build On
- One class set (in paperback) of Rats, Bulls, and Flying Machines
- One class set of each of the Core Chronicles books (Robin Hood, Pollyanna, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Don Quixote, Treasure Island, and Selected Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
- One class set of Realms of Gold, Volume 1
- One class set of Listen, My Children per grade level
- K-6 CD's
- Jazz CD's
- American Musical Theater CD's
- Mozart CD
- CD-ROM of the most current national conference units
- CD-ROM containing award-winning units from past national conferences
Additional Sequences and grade-level books should be purchased by the school and made available for checkout in the school's media center.
- From other sources
The Core Knowledge Foundation will provide a grade-by-grade list of specific materials, identifying teacher reference books, student books, maps, globes, Pearson Learning Core Knowledge History & Geography textbooks, and other resources to be obtained for each classroom. Each year's purchases should be guided by the topics currently being implemented. The annual materials expenditure will vary, depending upon materials already at hand in each school. A school should anticipate spending at least $1,000 per classroom, plus the media center, for additional resources through the third year of implementation.
Contact Pearson Learning directly at 800-321-3106 for information about ordering the History & Geography textbooks. You can order these materials online at Pearson's Order and Shipment Information Service.
Baltimore Curriculum Project Lesson Plans
Schools should purchase Lesson Plans from the Baltimore Curriculum Project. Since these materials are intended to be used as resources, they will need to be modified to reflect local standards and testing requirements. During professional development days, these lesson plans can ease the process of writing lessons for all topics in the Core Knowledge Sequence.
Contact The Baltimore Curriculum Project directly at: 410-235-0015 for information about ordering the lesson plans.
- Preschool Note
The school kits listed here do not address preschool. A separate list of preschool-level resource materials will be provided upon scheduling of preschool training. The annual materials expenditure per preschool classroom will vary, depending on materials already at hand in each school. Most preschools spend between $1,500 and $3,000 per year for the first two years of implementation. Most of these materials are non-consumable and will not need to be replaced for many years, given normal wear and tear. For more information about Core Knowledge Preschool, click here.
Develop a school-wide planning document containing both Core Knowledge topics and your state and district standards.
Each school should develop a yearlong plan, arranged by the month or grading period, that coordinates all the concepts, content, and skills required by the state and district with the Core Knowledge content. This document will be initiated during staff professional development sessions run by the Core Knowledge Foundation and will ultimately serve as a planning document for teachers and a tool for communication with parents and the community. It is the responsibility of the building principal to ensure that the entire document is completed. The Core Knowledge Foundation will provide feedback based upon scoring rubrics if the school submits the yearlong plan to us.
Develop a school-wide implementation plan
Each school should develop a school-wide implementation plan that addresses the following areas:
- Finding resources
- Creating common planning time
- Communicating with and involving parents and community members
- Integrating technology
- Involving "specialists" - art, music, physical education, special education, bilingual/ESL, technology teachers, media specialists, cluster teachers and administrators
- Assessing student learning
- Addressing other areas of need, as determined by the school
This document will be initiated during staff professional development sessions run by the Core Knowledge Foundation and will ultimately serve as the plan of action for implementation. It is the responsibility of the building principal to ensure that the entire document is completed. The Core Knowledge Foundation will provide feedback based upon scoring rubrics if the school submits the school-wide implementation plan to us.
Develop lesson plans and Core Knowledge units
These plans will be initiated during staff professional development conducted by the Core Knowledge Foundation. They will show how teachers are implementing the yearlong plan in their classrooms. It is the responsibility of the building principal to ensure that lessons and units are completed. The Core Knowledge Foundation will provide feedback based upon scoring rubrics if the school submits lesson plans and units to us.
Note: Submitting all this documentation (listed above) is a requirement for Official School Status.
Each school will develop an evaluation plan to determine progress, identify strengths and weaknesses of the implementation plan, and measure student success.
Core Knowledge Curriculum-Referenced Tests
Schools should administer the Core Knowledge Curriculum-Referenced Tests in grades one through five at the end of each year. The cost of testing materials and scoring are contingent upon the number of participants.
Note: Submitting Core Knowledge Curriculum-Referenced test scores will be a future requirement for Official School Status.
Click here or contact Questar Assessment directly at 800-800-2598 for information about ordering and scoring the Core Knowledge Curriculum-Referenced Tests.
In addition, schools should select one of the following evaluation instruments:
- Teacher-made formative tests (developed during Developing Assessments workshop)
- Reading and mathematics assessments included with the selected programs
National Conference attendance
The annual Core Knowledge National Conference provides an annual opportunity to gather new ideas, learn more about topics in the Sequence, and network with teachers, administrators, and parents from around the country. Each school should send representatives -- at the least, the Core Knowledge coordinator and one other -- to the conference during each year of implementation. The school is responsible for all registration and travel expenses. The Foundation strongly encourages that each school also send teachers from each grade level, teachers from special areas, key parents, and support staff to the conference as well, rotating the opportunity to build buy-in and support.
Ongoing support
Ongoing support is available from the Core Knowledge Foundation via toll free telephone numbers, e-mail, fax, and web site.
To Request a Form
All professional development training and follow-up visits will be conducted by trained Core Knowledge consultants.
The Core Knowledge Foundation, Inc. is the exclusive provider of training for the implementation of the Core Knowledge Sequence.
To request a Budget and Professional Development Planning Sheet, contact , Director of K–8 Professional Development.
To establish a formal agreement for CSR grant purposes, please request a Memorandum of Understanding from Yolanda Van Ness, Grant Support Coordinator.
We look forward to working with you and we are confident that you will find Core Knowledge beneficial and rewarding for your students, parents, and staff.
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Last updated: Wed, May 07 2008
