Lynne Munson

Lynne Munson has served as President and Executive Director of Common Core since its founding in 2007. In five short years Munson has made Common Core an influential advocate for the liberal arts and sciences and a noted provider of CCSS-based curriculum tools. Common Core’s research has launched widespread public discussions over the narrowing of the curriculum. Common Core’s ELA Maps were the first new curriculum tool created to implement the CCSS. Printed by Jossey-Bass/Wiley and with over five million online views, the Maps are shaping CCSS implementation in a demographically diverse array of states and districts nationwide.

Lynne was deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) from 2001–2005, overseeing all agency operations. NEH is an independent agency of the federal government that funds scholarly and public projects in the humanities. Lynne conceived of “Picturing America,” the most successful public humanities project in NEH history. The project put more than 75,000 sets of fine art images and teaching guides into libraries, K-12 classrooms, and Head Start centers. In 2005 Lynne led the first post-conflict United States government delegation to Afghanistan to deal with issues of cultural reconstruction. In 2004, she represented the United States at UNESCO meetings in Australia and Japan, where she helped to negotiate guidelines for cross-border higher education.

Lynne is also a research fellow at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research where she writes on the issue of higher education endowment spending. In September 2007, Ms. Munson testified before the Senate Finance Committee on the issue of college and university endowment hoarding and has advised Senate staff regarding potential policy remedies in this area.

In 1998 and 1999 Ms. Munson provided expert testimony on higher education remediation programs to the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York and the Mayor’s Advisory Task Force on CUNY Reform.

From 1993-2001 Lynne was a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where she wrote Exhibitionism: Art in an Era of Intolerance (Ivan R. Dee, 2000), a book examining the evolution of art institutions and art education. Lynne has written on contemporary cultural and educational issues for numerous national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Inside Higher Education, and NRO.com’s The Corner. She has appeared on CNN, FoxNews, CNBC, C-SPAN, and NPR and speaks to scholarly and public audiences. She serves on the advisory board for the Pioneer Institute's Center for School Reform. Her degree in art history is from Northwestern University.

The Maps

The Common Core Curriculum Maps in ELA

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February 20 • In this Education Week webinar Lynne Munson talks about how the arts can play a powerful role in CCSS implementation. To register for the archived webinar, sign in here. Or view Lynne’s PowerPoint where she unveils high school-level TDQs comparing two works of art.

February 11 • This morning on Rick Hess’s Straight Up blog is a “thoughtful conversation” he had with Student Achievement Partners Founding Member Jason Zimba on CCSS, math in particular. Lynne Munson commented on the interview, and her views also can be read in today’s Common Core blog

December 17 • Check out Education Week’s article “Arts Education Seen as Common-Core Partner.” Education Week

July 18 • Common Core has announced that the New York State Department of Education has awarded the organization a third contract to develop 6th-12th grade mathematics curriculum and corresponding professional development aligned to New York State’s Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS). News release.

May 7 • Common Core receives glowing reviews for professional development offered in Beaufort County, NC. Read the full story in the Washington Daily News.

April 25 • Common Core’s Lynne Munson comments on the pressures of high stakes testing and the effect it can have on student learning in Roberta Munoz’s article “Make it of Break it: High Stakes Testing Pros and Cons” on Education.com

April 4 • Common Core has announced that the New York State Department of Education has awarded it two contracts to develop
Pre-Kindergarten-5th grade mathematics curriculum aligned to NY State’s Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS). News release.

April 3 • Common Core Creating Math Maps for New York State. News release.

March 27 • Common Core has announced that it is developing a series of CCSS-aligned K-8 curriculum maps in history and geography. News release.

March 21 • Check out Education Week’s coverage of Common Core’s “Truant From Schools: History, Science, and Art” event!

March 15 • Common Core releases data showing curriculum narrowing affecting all students.

March 9 • Common Core celebrates Virginia’s decision to abandon SB185, a bill that would have eliminated state mandated science and social studies testing for third graders. You can read more about this issue, and Common Core’s advocacy work, in this recent blog entry.

December 8 • Check out Education Week’s coverage of Common Core’s recent national survey of school teachers.

November 14 • Read Lynne Munson’s response to the latest NAEP results. Joanne Jacobs’s “Linking and Thinking on Education” and the Core Knowledge blog also highlighted her piece.