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Albuquerque Public Schools and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Blaze the Trail to National Implementation of Common Core Standards

With underwriting support from the Gates Foundation, the Council of Great City Schools engaged six districts to develop locally-relevant curricular and formative assessment materials based on the standards for targeted grades, professional development, coaching, communications, and other supports. Gradually, each district's target grades will transition into the new teaching standards and practices of Common Core, and will share best practices and results. HMH, a long-standing provider of the district's curriculum and assessment solutions, will be assisting APS's transition by collaboratively developing formative assessments.

"As we move towards full implementation of the Common Core, we're partnering with HMH to develop rigorous assessments that are linked to the new standards and aligned to support effective academic instruction at APS. In addition, our collaborative effort includes helping teachers understand the science behind this development," said Rose-Ann McKernan, Exective Director of Instructional Accountability.

"We are looking forward to beginning this new chapter in our partnership with Albuquerque Public Schools," said Linda Zecher, CEO of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. "HMH is committed to partnering with educators, listening to their needs, and providing them with the tools necessary to make this crucial and challenging transition smooth and successful."

The Common Core Standards will be implemented in five other urban districts as well, which include Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and St. Paul. All six will receive support from the private and public sectors in their endeavor to have the new standards fully implemented by 2014.

For information on the Common Core Standards Initiative, please visit http://hmheducation.com/commoncore/.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt With education products and services used by 57 million students throughout all 50 U.S. states and 120 countries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global education and learning company. The world's largest provider of materials for pre-K–12 learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is leading the way with innovative solutions and approaches to the challenges facing education today. Through curricula excellence coupled with technology innovations and professional services, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt collaborates with school districts, administrators, teachers, parents and students, providing interactive, results-driven learning solutions. Its Educational Consulting Services group works to increase student achievement in underperforming schools by developing, implementing and supporting education transformation through sustained district partnerships. With origins dating back to 1832, the Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Justin Joseph, 617-351-5020
Manager, Corporate Affairs
Justin.Joseph@hmhpub.com