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It turns out that our event tonight about the Common Core is actually kind of aligned to the new standards.

The Common Core’s English language arts standards call for students to base their arguments on hard evidence in authentic texts. Similarly, our theory has been that a productive discussion about the opportunities and challenges of the Common Core needs to be rooted in the real experiences of teachers and students.

That’s why we asked educators to bring real examples of student work to provide a springboard for the panel discussion, which will feature a Bronx teacher, Department of Education Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky; and Sandra Stotsky, an advocate of standards who has criticized the Common Core.

(The event starts at 5 p.m. on the Upper East Side. Details are here.)

The half-dozen educators who volunteered to share student work come from middle schools and high schools, special education and general education classrooms, and four of the five boroughs. Here are tastes of the “texts” that a few of the educators will be presenting. (more…)