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Is Common Core Impossible? Learn How Kentucky EPPs Successfully Implemented CCSS in a Free Webinar

Many educator preparation providers are highly engaged in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and are actively working alongside PK-12 administrators, teachers, and parents to prepare students. Learn how AACTE member institutions in Kentucky are successfully implementing the standards in a free AACTE webinar, “Is Common Core Impossible?Tuesday, October 20, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Thanks to a grant from the Learning First Alliance’s Get It Right campaign, AACTE will host this webinar as the first in a two-part series on CCSS implementation in educator preparation programs. This webinar focuses on the successful work of the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in facilitating its members’ work to align their educator preparation programs with CCSS after Kentucky became the first state to adopt the standards. Presenters will discuss how a communication strategy, community involvement, policy advancement and alignment, and professional development and capacity building were used for successful implementation.

In addition, two of the presenters, Dorie Combs and Ginni Fair, will share lessons from their recent book, Meet Me at the Commons: A Field Guide to the Common Core Standards in Higher Education.

Linda McKee, AACTE senior director for performance measurement and assessment policy, will serve as moderator for the webinar, which will feature the following presenters:

Dorie Combs, professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Eastern Kentucky University, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in curriculum planning and reading/language arts. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in secondary English education from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Kentucky. Combs has 15 years of teaching experience at the middle school level in Columbia, SC, and Lexington, KY. She served on the Kentucky Board of Education for 8 years and participated in several national study groups related to school reform and college/career readiness. Combs has recently collaborated on several publications and presentations related to CCSS implementation.

Ginni Fair earned her Ed.D. in curriculum and supervision from the University of Kentucky and is associate professor and associate chair in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). She primarily teaches methods and literacy development courses. She previously spent 10 years in the middle school language arts classroom, concluding her tenure in the PK-12 realm by being recognized as a Foundation Teacher at Model Lab School. Fair was a university partner who assisted in training Kentucky teachers through Kentucky Leadership Networks during the state’s CCSS roll-out phase. She was also one of the coordinators for EKU’s campus initiative to integrate CCSS across general education and teacher preparation courses and has presented on the topic several times. Fair has also collaborated multiple times with her husband, a middle school science teacher, publishing and presenting on issues related to content area literacy. 

Ann Larson is dean of the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Louisville. She is current chair of the Advisory Council of State Representatives and immediate past president of the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the Kentucky affiliate of AACTE. Larson’s research areas are curriculum studies, teacher education and teacher development, professional development schools, and English education. She has been involved with the implementation of CCSS through various initiatives that have been a part of Senate Bill 1 in Kentucky. She is also a professor in the CEHD’s Department of Middle & Secondary Education.

Manish Sharma is director of Educator Preparation and Human Development and director of assessment for the Office of Academic Affairs and Unit Effectiveness at the University of Louisville. Sharma oversees college assessment, accountability and accreditation processes, and reporting for the university and state and national organizations. He also serves as elected president of the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. He has a keen interest in the area of instructional technology and implementation of new technologies in education. He has been involved in the implementation of CCSS at the college, regional, and state levels.

Join this free webinar to learn more about and discuss how to prepare teacher candidates for CCSS. Registration is free and open to all AACTE members!


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Jerrica Thurman

Director of Marketing & Communications, AACTE