Collaborative Classroom and ThinkCERCA Announce Partnership to Provide K-8 TEKS Approved English Language Arts Curriculum
Alameda, CA — April 16, 2019 — Center for the Collaborative Classroom, a nonprofit educational organization, and ThinkCERCA, a research-based literacy platform for engaging students in personalized reading, writing, and critical thinking, today announced a partnership that aligns with K-8 TEKS approved English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. Texas schools can now use Proclamation 2019-allocated funds to adopt the combined curriculum.
The announcement comes at an interesting time for the educational system in Texas. On March 8th, 2019 a bill was filed in the Texas Legislature to require the State Board of Education to adopt standards for social and emotional learning. Both Collaborative Classroom and ThinkCERCA provide research-based curriculum that is rooted in social and emotional learning.
“We’ve partnered with ThinkCERCA to help Texas school districts deliver continuous improvement through a unified approach to rigorous K-8 literacy instruction,” said Kelly Stuart, Chief Operating Officer, Collaborative Classroom. “ThinkCERCA’s literacy platform helps educators teach critical thinking skills through close reading and academic writing across subjects. When combined with our Collaborative Literacy curriculum the program gives districts and teachers TEKS approved K-8 curriculum.”
“Collaborative Classroom is an ideal partner and allows us to round out our offering with a focus on literacy education,” said Eileen Murphy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ThinkCERCA. “Together, we believe that students and teachers should be engaged in lively, relevant conversations about real-world texts and issues. Both Collaborative Classroom and ThinkCERCA provide teachers with engaging curricular materials and ongoing professional learning to accomplish authentic, visible shifts in instruction and teacher practice.”
Collaborative Literacy, aligned with TEKS and ELPS, is a rigorous, yearlong curriculum that addresses the core reading, writing, and speaking and listening skills that students need to thrive. Collaborative Literacy enables students’ development as readers and writers who think critically, while simultaneously fostering their growth as caring, collaborative, and principled people.
Through a rigorous, TEKS- and ELPS-aligned English language arts and reading curriculum, ThinkCERCA helps educators effectively teach 21st-century literacy skills. At the heart of its personalized literacy platform is a research-based framework, CERCA, for teaching students how to read, write, and think critically in ELA and across subjects. CERCA helps students become prepared for the world ahead, by teaching them how to make Claims, support their claims with Evidence, explain their Reasoning clearly, civilly address Counterarguments, and use language appropriate for their Audience. Multiple studies show that as students practice and strengthen these advanced literacy skills, they can achieve two years or more of growth in a single school year.