Today, the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance) launched a new blog entitled “Core of the Matter,” a new series devoted to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and struggling students (#CoreMatters). As schools, districts, and states work to implement the new standards—including new assessments—the Alliance will use this series to bring attention to the challenge and imperative of delivering on the promise and potential of the standards for all students, especially those who have been historically underserved by the education system.

To start a dialogue, the Alliance will publish a new blog post on the first and third Tuesday of every month addressing issues related to implementation of the CCSS. The posts will alternate between those written by Alliance staff and guest bloggers. On May 20, the first guest blogger will be Chris Edley, a noted legal scholar who is committed to educational equality and excellence, and former dean of UC Berkeley School of Law; co-chair of the congressionally chartered National Committee on Education Equity and Excellence, and an Alliance for Excellent Education board member. Additional guest bloggers will include Linda Darling-Hammond and Kenji Hakuta, renowned professors at Stanford University; Margarita Calderon, professor emerita at Johns Hopkins University; and Ahniwake Rose, executive director of the National Indian Education Association.

If you are interested in receiving this new blog, please email equity@all4ed.org and you will receive an email notification when a new blog post in the series is published.