New York Principal: Rigor Key To Preparing Students For Common Core

Education Week (3/13, Heitin) reports on the perceived problem of underperforming students being expected to conform to higher standards as states implement the Common Core Standards, noting that Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York, believes that increased curricular rigor is the answer. At her school, "nearly every student-including English-language learners and those receiving special education services-takes advanced classes. When students are struggling, they do not receive remediation or a pared-down curriculum. Instead, they are supported on grade-level material and pushed harder. ... Burris, co-author of Opening the Common Core: How to Bring All Students to College and Career Readiness, says her hard-line approach stems from her extensive research on college readiness-including the doctoral work that earned her the 2003 dissertation of the year award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals."