The Common Core State Standards…. What are they? How will they inform instruction? What are the assessments going to be like? What does this mean for teachers next year?

The Common Core State Standards Initiative…. Beginning in the spring of 2009, Governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states, 2 territories and the District of Columbia committed to developing a common core of state K-12 English- Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics standards. www.corestandards.org

Standards Development Process College and career readiness standards developed in summer 2009 Final Common Core State Standards released on June 2, 2010 Adopted by the Board of Regents in NYS on January 10, 2011 2 2

What are the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? Aligned with college and work expectations Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skills Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards Internationally benchmarked so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society 3 3

The CCSS…. Articulate what students should know and be able to do (i.e., content and skills) Are organized to be fewer and clearer Provide for greater depth of learning Reflect college and career readiness Emphasize coherence, focus, and rigor

Why is this important? Currently, every state has its own set of academic standards, meaning public education students in each state are learning to different levels All students must be prepared to compete with not only their American peers in the next state, but with students from around the world

Key Advances: ELA Reading Writing Speaking and Listening Language Balance of literature and informational texts “Staircase” of increased text complexity Writing Emphasis on argument and informative or explanatory writing, which begins as opinion in the earliest grades Emphasis on writing that references sources Speaking and Listening Inclusion of formal and informal talk Language Stress on general academic and domain-specific vocabulary

Key Advances: ELA Standards for reading and writing in history/ social studies, science, and technical subjects Complement rather than replace content standards in those subjects Responsibility of all teachers to focus on reading and writing in all content areas Alignment with college and career readiness expectations

Key differences between existing state standards and the CCSS… Key differences between existing state standards and the CCSS….click below to view. https://www.communityoflearning.org/bbcswebdav/library/Library%20Content /CCSS%20Video%20Presentations/4_Jaime_KeyDifferences/4_Jaime_KeyDi fferences.html

Key Advances: Mathematics Focus and coherence Focus on key topics at each grade level. Coherent progressions across grade levels Balance of concepts and skills Content standards require both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Mathematical practices Foster reasoning and sense-making in mathematics. College and career readiness Level is ambitious, but achievable.

What the Standards do NOT define: How teachers should teach All that can or should be taught The nature of advanced work beyond the core The interventions needed for students well below grade level The full range of support for English Language Learners and students with special needs Everything needed to be college and career ready

What about the assessments? The goal for 2014-2015 is to have…. “Through-course” assessments developed by the Achieve Partnership in ELA and Math (grades 3- 11) Assessments will be given at three points during the school year near the end of quarters with an end-of-year comprehensive assessment Results within 2 weeks Computer-delivered and computer-based

ELA Assessment: Mode of Administration All of the through-course components will be administered in an online, computer- based mode in grades 6–11. Students will type their responses, in alignment with the CCSS, which explicitly require students to develop keyboarding skills sufficient to this task. America's Choice (www.americaschoice.org)

Promises for the Assessments Teachers will be able to focus their instruction on clear targets rather than guessing which standards the tests might cover, and those targets will represent meaningful progress toward an evidence-based standard of college and career readiness. America's Choice (www.americaschoice.org)

The assessments will include challenging performance tasks and innovative, computer-enhanced items that elicit complex demonstrations of learning and measure the full range of knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in college and 21st-Century careers.

Assessments will take place throughout the school year so that assessment of learning can take place closer in time to when key skills and concepts are taught.

The assessments will provide information that is useful in informing: Teaching, learning, and program improvement; Determinations of school effectiveness; Determinations of principal and teacher effectiveness for use in evaluations and the provision of support to teachers and principals; and Determinations of individual student college and career readiness, such as determinations made for high school exit decisions, college course placement to credit-bearing classes, or college entrance. (US Department of Education, 2009)

Just introducing new standards and assessments will not transform instructional practice. Teaching practices must transform to: Foster students’ higher-order thinking skills. Engage students through problem-based or project-based learning. Prepare students for distributive and performance-based assessments.

Professional Development Needs… Teachers will need assistance with…. Developing an understanding of the Common Core content standards. Understanding the structure of the common assessments. Creating and scoring performance tasks and assessments that employ higher ordering thinking skills. Learning to interpret and use data to inform instruction.

Implementation Timeline

Implementation Timeline 2011-12 NYS Professional Development Institute for District Network Teams – August 2011 CCSS professional development turnkey training for teachers and principals – Fall 2011 Recommendation that all teachers deliver at least one unit of study aligned with the CCSS each semester during the 2011-12 school year.

A unit of study aligned with the CCSS in ELA & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects would include: a focus on close readings of texts for understanding a series of text-dependent questions extensive writing opportunities that require students to draw information from multiple sources of information a focus on notetaking and summarizing of texts opportunities for students to share their work orally with their peers

Sample core curriculum maps in ELA and units of study…. To view Common Core Curriculum maps - click here

The Promise of Standards The CCSS are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. It has been recognized that it is time for states to work together to build on lessons learned from two decades of standards based reforms.

Challenges lie ahead for instructional leaders and teachers….. There will be no major changes to curriculum next year. We will proceed thoughtfully and deliberately to align curriculum and instruction with the CCSS over the course of the next several years!

Thank you. Enjoy your summer vacation! Please e-mail questions that you may have as a result of this presentation to Carol Gold in the Curriculum and Instruction Office.