Westfield Washington School’s Lynn Schemel, director of assessment and professional development, has been selected to be a member of Indiana’s Educator Leader Cadre to help implement new national standards and assessments.
“Lynn’s selection shows that the state knows how well she has been doing in leading our district through the common core transition as well as her knowledge of assessment. Additionally, her selection will allow us to have the first-hand knowledge to immediately prepare our staff and students for whatever action comes out of the committee’s work,” Westfield Washington Schools Supt. Mark Keen said.
Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, Indiana schools began transitioning to new math and English standards-national standards known as the Common Core State Standards currently adopted by 45 states, District of Columbia, Guam and the US Virgin Islands.
By the 2014-15 school year, all grade levels will be teaching the new national standards and taking new math and English assessments in place of ISTEP+/ECA. Indiana is a governing member of Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, an assessment consortium of 24 states working collaboratively to develop a common K-12 assessment system aligned to the CCSS in English and mathematics. PARCC’s coherent assessment system, which is anchored in measures of college and career readiness will include summative assessments, diagnostic and informative assessments, aligned instructional resources and implementation and transition support.
“It is an honor and a privilege for Indiana educators to be nominated and selected to help lead this work,” said Carlotta Cooprider, PARCC’s state implementation coordinator.
Each PARCC state is nominating and engaging a 24-member team to begin the development of a larger network of educators known as the Educator Leader Cadres. Over a three-year period, these educator leaders will provide support throughout their states, assisting regional and district efforts through peer-to-peer workshops and trainings to prepare teachers for the upcoming transitions.
K-16 educators will meet face-to-face and online to build expertise in the CCSS and PARCC; review sample test questions, and state-developed instructional materials; and guide and share best practices around state and local implementation efforts.
Indiana’s cadre of 24 educator leaders will work collaboratively with the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and is comprised of teachers, administrators, curriculum directors, coordinators, higher education faculty, regional representatives and parent/community representatives.