Kentucky Core Academic Standards, the National Common Core Standards and Jefferson County Public Schools Jefferson County Public Schools The Gheens Academy for Curricular Excellence and Instructional Leadership

Background of the Common Core State Initiative The Common Core State Initiative is a historic, bipartisan state-led effort by the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief of State School Officers along with education groups such as ACT, College Board (SAT) and Achieve to make US schools globally competitive.

What Are Common Core State Standards? Common Core State Standards are national standards that provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to know and be able to do at each grade level. Common Core State Standards are NOT a curriculum. Example: Grade 3: Reading Standards for Literature Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

More About Common Core Standards Common Core State Standards have been developed in English/Language Arts and Math for kindergarten through twelfth grade. Common Core State Standards are rigorous and challenging. They reflect knowledge and skills needed in college and career/job readiness for the 21 st century.

Why Common Core Standards? Common core standards will help ensure consistent quality in education nationwide. Common core standards will provide a venue for individual states to compare student progress with other states. By 2014, 64% of jobs will require post- secondary training. Common core standards will ensure that America’s students can compete in a global job market.

Common Core State Standards in Kentucky Kentucky was one of 44 states to adopt the Common Core State Standards. While the standards remain the same, Kentucky chose to rename the standards... Kentucky Core Academic Standards (KCAS)

Kentucky’s Commitment Unbridled Learning – Senate Bill 1 (2009)  Requires the adoption of new academic standards (KCAS)  Requires the adoption of new assessments  Provides a unified plan for improving college/career readiness

What Do KCAS English/Language Arts Standards Look Like? English/Language Arts consists of five areas:  Reading  Writing  Speaking and Listening  Language  Foundational skills – phonics, word recognition and decoding words

What Will I Notice As a Parent? You will notice a significant increase in the amount of non-fiction reading and writing your child will be doing. In the new standards it is clearly specified that students will experience: 50 percent fiction (Ex. Charlotte’s Web) 50 percent non-fiction (Ex. The Diary of Anne Frank)

What Do KCAS Math Standards Look Like? Kindergarten – Grade 8  Grade by grade standards with a concentration in geometry and algebra in 7 th and 8 th grades.

What Will I Notice As a Parent? In the former standards, students repeated specific math skills at several grade levels. In KCAS the repetition is eliminated. In KCAS students will be learning new math skills every year. The math skills that they learn in grade 1 will be needed as they progress through the math skills for grade 2.

Summary of KCAS: What Will be Different for My Child?  Your child may be introduced to skill at an earlier grade level than in the past. Concepts moved from grade 3 to grades listed below: Kindergarten: Attributes of three dimensional shapes are introduced Grade 1: Time to the nearest half hour Grade 2: Skip count by 5’s, 10’s and 100’s Odd and even numbers to 20 are introduced Time to the nearest five minutes

Summary of KCAS: What Will Be Different for My Child?  Your child may be introduced to concepts that are new to their grade level. Sample Concepts new to grade 3 * Fractions with denominators of 2,3,4,6 and 8. (in prior standards fractions at the grade level were limited to halves, thirds and fourths) * Concept of area and the formula for area, recognizing that area is additive

How Will My Child Be Assessed on the KCAS Standards? Students in grades 3-12 will be assessed each spring. Kentucky is currently in the process of adopting a new assessment based on the KCAS standards in English Language Arts and Math to be administered in spring, Kentucky will be the ONLY state in the nation to assess students using the new KCAS standards in spring, 2012.

Summary of Proposed Kentucky State- Required Assessments Spring 2012 GradeReading (KCAS) Writing (KCAS) Mathe- matics (KCAS) Science (CC 4.1) Social Studies (CC 4.1) EPAS 3CRT/NRT* 4 Editing/ Mechanics* CRT/NRT* 5 On-demand*CRT/NRT* 6 Editing/Mechanics & On-demand* CRT/NRT* 7 8 On-demand*CRT/NRT* EXPLORE End of Course English II ACT On-demand Writing* End of Course Algebra II ACT End of Course Biology ACT End of Course U.S. History ACT PLAN (Used to meet required testing) ACT

Proposed Types of Assessment Third Grade Assessment will include: Multiple Choice Short Answer Fourth through Twelfth Grade Assessments will include: Multiple Choice Short Answer Extended Response

How Can I Support My Child’s Learning? Refer regularly to your Parent’s Guide to Student Success brochure published by the National PTA. Talk with your child. Ask questions about what he/she is learning in class. Check for homework. It is most often an extension of what your child is doing in class. Read with your child nightly and visit the public library often. Communicate regularly with your child’s teacher through notes, s, phone calls and parent-teacher conferences. Stay INVOLVED and be an advocate for your child!

Why PTA???? National PTA adopted a position statement supporting clear, high standards in PTA is the leading voice speaking on behalf of parents. PTAs have the ability to be the vehicle of information as Kentucky begins the implementation of the KCAS Initiative. You can help us inform others and our community. Ask your presenter how you can schedule additional PTA workshops free of charge.

Together We Can Do It! 15 District PTA, JCPS Gheens Academy for Curriculum and Instruction and JCTA are partnering to share information and learning about KCAS and helping our students graduate college and career ready.

Looking Toward the Future Common core state standards will be developed in the subject areas of science and social studies. A national assessment based on the common core standards will be adopted by 2014.

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