Core Common Assessment at the Elementary Math Level and Critical Thinking Skills Ximena D. Burgin, Ed.D. Brent E. Wholeben, Ph.D. Office of Research, Evaluation and Policy Studies Northern Illinois University American Evaluation Association Minneapolis, MN October 26, 2012

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was enacted by the U.S. Department of Education to close the achievement gap by improving teachers' understanding of content and teaching methods. However, the desired results have not been met (Hefling, 2011). On 2010, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) adopted a new set of learning standards; which are part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS) (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2011). School districts in Illinois should have implemented completely the Common Core by school year 2014 ‐ 15 (ISBE, 2011). Background

The New Illinois Learning Standards - Illinois Common Core Assessment (ICCA) focused on four areas: (1) support for lowest performing schools, (2) longitudinal data system, (3) effective teachers and leaders, and (4) standards and assessment. The focusing areas are to bring changes with: (1) instruction delivery, (2) students’ assessment, and (3) students’ expectations Background

The purpose of this project is to understand the implications to the evaluation field of the new core standards to students’ critical thinking skills at the elementary level (grades 1-4). Purpose

Cross-referenced matrix was developed between ICCA for elementary math level (grades 1-4) and the Survey of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) students’ expectations cognitive development. Methodology

Survey of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) The SEC instrument measures teachers’ classroom practices with a scale reliability of: ◦0.81 for communicating math understanding, ◦0.74 for reasoning/problem solving, ◦0.91for active learning math, ◦0.82 for multiple assessment strategies, and ◦0.62 for educational technology (Blank, 2002). Note: The SEC instrument belongs to the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Instruments

Survey of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) Part B of the SEC instrument: instructional content teacher survey evaluates based on time on the topic and performance expectations. Performance expectations have been categorized as follows: (a)Memorize Facts/Definitions/Formulas, (b)Perform Procedures, (c)Demonstrate Understanding of Mathematical Ideas, (d)Conjecture/Generalize/Prove, and (e)Solve Nonroutine Problems/Make Connections. Instruments…Cont.

New Illinois Learning Standards - Illinois Common Core Assessment (ICCA) ards.pdf Illinois Learning Standards Instruments…Cont.

Matrix Sample

Few standards aim for higher levels of critical thinking skills at the elementary school level. The analysis indicated that three standards at grade level 3 and five standards at grade level 4 required conjectures, generalization, and proving skills. Under “Measurement and Data” grade level 4, one standard required transferring knowledge to make connections and solve non- routine problems. Results

The evaluation model does not asses students’ development of critical thinking skills and teachers’ application of higher level cognitive classroom activities. It remains to be determined the level of critical thinking skills the students will gain under the new standards. Conclusions