A central premise of American public education is that all students should have access to a rigorous, high-quality curriculum. While education reform efforts have tended to focus on the challenges urban public schools face in achieving educational equity, rural schools also confront challenges in achieving this important goal. Social and geographic isolation, coupled with inadequate school and community resources, limits the ability of many rural schools to provide students, particularly high school students, with access to rigorous curricula and advanced coursework.
Supporting equitable access to education resources is at the center of Learning List’s service to schools and districts. We recognize that high-quality online instructional resources and courses can supplement traditional course offerings to achieve greater equity for students in all districts, regardless of the district’s size or geography. To this end, Learning List provides an independent verification of each material’s alignment to the CCSS or state standards. We further review the instructional content to assess its rigor, focus, and coherence assess the material’s design and ease of use, the types of assessments and monitoring tools included, and educators’ experiences using the product with students.
As districts nationwide work to implement the Common Core State Standards, Learning List’s reviews of Math and English Language Arts materials can significantly streamline their selection process, saving them time and money while providing greater peace of mind that the materials selected will pave the way for their students’ success.