COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PROGRESS

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW Current Conditions Common Core Solutions Moving Forward Duval County Council of PTAs

THE VALUE OF EDUCATION Duval County Council of PTAs

Source: College Board’s 2011 “One Year Out” Study. ARE WE CHALLENGING OUR STUDENTS? Duval County Council of PTAs

ARE WE CHALLENGING OUR STUDENTS? Source: Duval County Council of PTAs

ARE OUR CURRENT STANDARDS RIGOROUS? 2007: “The state of Georgia declared 88% of 8 th graders proficient in reading, even though just 26% scored at or above the proficiency level on the NAEP.” 2007: “If you believe those who set the Illinois standards, 82 percent of its 8th graders are proficient in reading, even though the NAEP says only 30 percent are.” Source: < Duval County Council of PTAs

ARE OUR CURRENT STANDARDS RIGOROUS? 2009: “For example, on the 4th-grade math test, West Virginia reported that 60.8 percent of its students had achieved proficiency, but 28.1 percent were proficient on the NAEP.” 2009: “Delaware claimed that 77 percent of its 4th-grade students were proficient in math, when NAEP shows that only 36 percent were.” Source: < Duval County Council of PTAs

ARE OUR CURRENT STANDARDS RIGOROUS? What type of thinking is involved? Teachers assess by looking at the verb that appears in a standard. How deeply do you need to understand a topic to interact with the content being presented? What kinds of cognitive tasks are being asked of students? Simply recall a fact? Analyze a complex argument? Duval County Council of PTAs

WHY DO WE NEED COMMON CORE STANDARDS? Low Levels of Rigor Current standards feature large amounts of knowledge and recall learning targets Under-developing critical thinking abilities Disadvantaged in college and the workplace Duval County Council of PTAs

LOW RIGOR STANDARDS Source: Duval County Council of PTAs

FORDHAM INSTITUTE GRADES STANDARDS 25 states have moved backwards in the quality of their standards from 2005 to states’ ELA standards received D or F grades in terms of rigor and clarity. 18 states’ Mathematics standards received D or F grades. The vast majority of states have standards that scored lower than the Common Core.

WHY DO WE NEED COMMON STANDARDS? LACK OF CLARITY Write for a variety of purposes.” “Respond to variety of literary/informational texts.” “Competently use money.” Are these standards clear to teachers, students, and parents? INCONSISTENCIES Different states set different learning targets Different districts set different learning targets Different classrooms learning different topics We must expect high achievement from all students in all classrooms Duval County Council of PTAs

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF THE INCONSISTENCIES States requiring different content Cut scores for proficiency vary by state Students being taught and assessed at different levels of rigor based on location Students who move may be far ahead or far behind / This especially affects our Military population. Large groups of students are disadvantaged in the national and global economies Duval County Council of PTAs

WHY DO WE NEED COMMON STANDARDS? Barriers to Collaboration Educators are not working from the same blueprints Chilling effect on the sharing of best practices Curricular materials not applicable to all places This creates an insular education community where everyone is doing the same work over and over again Duval County Council of PTAs

WHAT IS COMMON CORE? A set of clear, consistent, internationally- benchmarked K-12 standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics that will provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our students for college and the workplace. CCSSI Video Duval County Council of PTAs

HOW ARE COMMON CORE STANDARDS BETTER? Increased complexity of texts Focus on foundational math skills and application in novel real- world situations A return to depth as opposed to breadth Increased focus on justifying and presenting results and methods Critical reading and writing infused in all curricular areas Re-ordering of math content to reflect research-based path to college and career readiness Duval County Council of PTAs

OUR CURRENT STANDARDS ARE LOW IN RIGOR AND DO NOT EMPHASIZE THE REASONING SKILLS NECESSARY FOR CAREER AND COLLEGE. CURRENT STATE STANDARDCOMMON CORE STANDARD N.MR Locate fractions with denominators of 12 or less on the number line; include mixed numbers. 4.NF.2 Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, eg. By creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as ½. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of the comparisons with symbols >, =, or < and justify the conclusions. eg. By using a visual fraction model. Duval County Council of PTAs

BENEFITS OF COMMON CORE Preparation: The CCSS will prepare students for both college and the workplace and emphasizes higher-order skills instead of knowledge and recall. Competition: The CCSS are internationally-benchmarked, ensuring that our students are prepared to be competitive in the global job market. Duval County Council of PTAs

BENEFITS OF COMMON CORE Equity: The CC will foster consistent expectations not dependent on state or zip code. We will hold all students to high academic expectations. Clarity: The CC are focused, coherent, and clear standards. Everyone knows what is expected of our students Collaboration: CCSSI will be a foundation for teachers, states, and districts to work together from the same blueprints. This will facilitate the sharing of best practices. Duval County Council of PTAs

IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS 45 states have voluntarily adopted the Common Core, as well as the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Dept of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) To date States and territories who have not yet adopted: Alaska*, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Virginia, Puerto Rico, Guam. Duval County Council of PTAs

IMPLEMENTATION CURRICULUM The CCSSO has convened the publishing community to ensure that high-quality instructional materials aligned to the Common Core are being created. Common Core is also catalyzing teachers in their development of open-source curricular materials. Now that we have a common blueprint, teachers can collaborate more easily and share/refine great materials, raising achievement for all students. Duval County Council of PTAs

IMPLEMENTATION: ASSESSMENT Diagnostic and weeks Diagnostic and interim assessments (optional) Most assessments are traditional pencil and paper Results available to schools in two-to-four weeks Support for both traditional and integrated math course sequences Field testing begins 2012, operational by 2014 Sample Assessments releases Aug Duval County Council of PTAs

Duval County Council of PTAs Where are Duval County Public Schools in their implementation? Resources for Parents Easy to understand guides for parents found at