This page is to provide parents (and any others interested) with resources for understanding the programs, initiatives, and organizations that affect Murray Language Academy students, faculty, and staff.
Public School System Organizations:
- Illinois State Board of Education official site - http://isbe.net/
- Chicago Public Schools official site - http://cps.edu/ - this site is vast and somewhat hard to navigate, so individual pages that have been deemed useful will show up as separate links on this page and elsewhere on this site
Academics:
- Common Core State Standards Initiative official site - http://www.corestandards.org/ - this is the set of academic standards that will be used as the basis for instruction and assessment tests beginning the 2013-2014 school year
- Implementing the Common Core Math Standards recorded webinar (available until mid-November 2012 for free) with Powerpoint slides here
- additional Common Core links submitted by webinar guests
- Kingergarten Common Core Math Wiki
- Grade 1 Common Core Wiki
- Grade 2 Common Core Wiki
- Illustrative Mathematics
- Investigations, Tasks, and Rubrics to Teach and Assess Math, Grades 1-6
- The Common Core, Clarifying Expectations for Teachers and Students
- Progressions Documents for the Common Core Math Standards
- The Mathematics Common Core Toolbox
- Inside Mathematics
- Wireless Generation Webinar Series on Implementing CCSS
- ST Math introductory video - http://www.mindresearch.net/cont/programs/demo/tours/SolvingLinearEquations/progTour.php - a highly-recommended math program that will be integrated into the Murray math curriculum beginning the 2012-2013 school year
- enVision MATH Common Core - http://www.pearsonschool.com/ - new Common Core math curriculum that will be used as the basis for Murray's math curriculum beginning the 2012-2013 school year
- LEAD 21 - https://www.mheonline.com/program/view/1/1/20/00ELEML21/ - K thru 5 core literacy program for use at Murray starting with the 2011-2012 school year
School-wide Programs and Initiatives:
- Response to Intervention (RTI)
- official site - http://www.rti4success.org/ - framework for assessing individual students needs and workflow for providing intervention
- A Parent's Guide to RTI - the National Center for Learning Disabilities’ RTI Action Network has developed this guide for parents and schools involved in implementing RTI in the elementary grades
- Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) official site - http://www.pbis.org/ - incoming program that will act as a basis for providing a school-wide program for providing discipline direction and behavior modification
- Executive Functioning
- here are a couple of great articles about what executive functioning skills are - LD Online and National Center for Learning Disabilities
- the program implemented for the middle grades (5 thru 8) at starting the 2011-2012 is the one taught at Rush University
- the book used at the initial training program is called Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents written by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare - it is not available through the Chicago Public Library system, but you can buy it on Amazon and the 2nd edition is available here
- additional executive function reading available through the Chicago Public Library:
Parent Organizations and Blogs:
- CPS Obsessed - http://cpsobsessed.com/ - a popular blog written by a CPS parent who began obsessing about CPS when her son entered kindergarten in fall of 2008
