Lyndale School has is becoming a Core Knowledge School

The following information has been taken from the Core Knowledge website.

What is "Core Knowledge"?

The "Core Knowledge" movement is an educational reform based on the premise that a grade-by-grade core of common learning is necessary to ensure a sound and fair elementary education. The movement was started by Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., author of Cultural Literacy and The Schools We Need, and is based on a large body of research in cognitive psychology, as well as a careful examination of several of the world's fairest and most effective school systems.

Professor Hirsch has argued that, for the sake of academic excellence, greater fairness, and higher literacy, early schooling should provide a solid, specific, shared core curriculum in order to help children establish strong foundations of knowledge. After wide consultation, the content of this core curriculum has been outlined in two books — the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and the Core Knowledge Sequence, K–8 — that state explicitly what students should learn at each grade level. Currently, hundreds of schools and thousands of dedicated educators are participating in this school reform movement throughout the United States.

What does it mean to be a "Core Knowledge School?" Does every teacher need to be involved?

At a Core Knowledge school, the Core Knowledge Sequence represents the common ground upon which a faculty meets and collaborates to teach a sequenced, coherent curriculum. In this cumulative curriculum, the knowledge and skills learned each year become the students' foundation for learning in subsequent years.

Some individual teachers select parts of Core Knowledge to teach. While the Core Knowledge Foundation encourages these teachers in their efforts, we see this undertaking as just the beginning of the larger process of a whole school deciding to become a Core Knowledge school.

The ultimate goal is involvement of all teachers, although it is not absolutely necessary at first that all teachers use the Core Knowledge program. Some schools plunge in boldly, getting all teachers involved in Core Knowledge from the outset. But successful implementation can also begin with a core of interested and committed teachers. Some schools have successfully implemented Core Knowledge by beginning at one grade level, then adding successive grade levels.

As more teachers get involved, there tends to be more enthusiasm and more collaboration. The most successful Core Knowledge schools are those in which teachers work together to share ideas, resources, and lesson plans.

There are now hundreds of Core Knowledge schools throughout the country, and the number continues to grow. The Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence is a relatively recent addition to Core Knowledge. Many Core Knowledge elementary schools with pre-kindergarten classes are now in the process of adding this component to their programs.

View a sample of the sequence.