Utah education officials launch training for new academic benchmarks

SALT LAKE CITY —The first of 14 summer training sessions designed to prepare teachers for the state's forthcoming academic overhaul got underway in Moab on Monday.

More than 5,000 Utah public school teachers will receive training on the Utah Common Core Standards, which are new academic benchmarks 44 other states and U.S. territories have adopted. The Utah State Board of Education formally adopted the standards in 2010, but they won't be fully implemented until Fall 2013.

Brenda Hales, state associate superintendent, described the training as "the largest professional development the state has ever undertaken."

Teachers across the state will attend one of the Utah Common Core Academy sessions, then return to their respective schools and districts to impart to their colleagues the knowledge they gained.

Curtis Linton, co-owner of the School Improvement Network, a company that connects schools nationwide with teaching resources, said Utah's training program is a model for other states. Linton said he has personally observed the way dozens of other states are approaching the Common Core, and Utah's approach of training teachers in every community is the best he's seen.

"These local educators will go back to their school sites and their districts and they're the local experts," Linton said. "That's highly respectful to the profession of teaching. … Utah is on the right path with this."

State Superintendent Larry Shumway said preparing teachers is the most important part of making sure Utah students measure up to the new standards.

"Providing these opportunities for professional development with our great teachers in this state will ensure that in classrooms, teachers are prepared to provide high-quality instruction in the new core curriculum," Shumway said.

Education officials are quick to point out that the standards don't dictate everything children need to learn, but are agreed-upon educational benchmarks in language arts and math. For instance, one standard states that by the end of first grade, students need to be able to add and subtract up to 18. The curriculum, textbooks and methods used to teach those standards will be determined by individual districts, schools and teachers.

At a press conference here announcing the training, Lt. Gov. Greg Bell thanked the Legislature for providing $2 million for the teacher training this summer.