In-house lecture on the US common core standards

David Niguidula, Ed.D., gave a lecture on the US Standards and Student Work: How the Common Core is Changing Assignments and Assessments on 27 February 2013 at the NISMED’s STTC Conference Room. Teachers from the UP Integrated School, Commonwealth Elementary School, Old Balara Elementary School, Balara High School, and TechFactors Inc. joined NISMED staff in the said lecture.

In his lecture, Dr. Niguidula gave a brief overview of the “Common Core” standards that have been adopted by 46 of the 50 states in the US since 2010. The standards are an answer to the essential question: What should a student, at each grade level, know and be able to do? Schools at the local level, in turn, need to address the question: How do we know if students have achieved those standards? Dr. Niguidula also discussed how “standardsbased reform” is affecting the kinds of assignments that students are asked to do–and the way teachers assess them. He presented common rubrics that help schools provide more consistent feedback to students. Towards the end of his talk, Dr. Niguidula showed how technology tools, from websites to camera phones, help schools keep track of student progress and help students create a richer picture of their achievements.

Dr. Niguidula is the founder of Ideas Consulting, an educational technology and professional development group based in the US. He has been a researcher in the field since 1983, and led the first major research project on Digital Portfolios for the Coalition of Essential Schools at Brown University. He has also been involved in research and curriculum development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He likewise served as a volunteer project staff of the NISMED’s Microcomputing Workgroup, forerunner of the Information Science Workgroup. He is a contributing author to Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World (ASCD, 2010). Dr. Niguidula received two bachelor’s degrees, one in computer science and another in education, at Brown University. He earned his doctorate at the Teachers College, Columbia University.