Irv Richardson Coordinator for Public Education and School Support NEA-NH Workshop for Candidates

Overview of Today’s Workshop  Background of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in New Hampshire  Common Core Standards for English Language Arts – High School Teacher, David Pook  Common Core State Standards for Mathematics – Middle School Teacher, Jamie Sirois  Messaging- George Strout, Communications Director, NEA-NH  Questions

The Metaphor of “Journey” Destination – Ensuring our students are productive members of communities and the 21 st Century work force Standards – Define the tools and resources with which we want to equip students for their current and future journeys. Curriculum –”Roads taken” to develop the tools and resources we want students to have on their journeys. Assessment – Determining where students are in developing their tools and resources.

Our Children’s Future is Unknown “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” Neil Postman

Preparing Our Children for an Unknown Future…

Your turn… Give the changes we are experiencing in our society, with what tools and skills should we equip our children to ensure they are prepared in the future?  English Language Arts tools and skills?  Mathematical tools and skills?

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)  The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state led effort that includes math, reading, and curriculum specialists, in partnership with the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.  The purpose was to establish a single set of clear educational expectations for English language arts/literacy and mathematics that states can share and voluntarily adopt.  New Hampshire has embedded the standards from this initiative into our College and Career Ready Standards.

NH College and Career Readiness Standards  NH College and Career Readiness Standards are grade level student expectations that have been “adopted” by the State Board of Education to support student success in core academics, career and technical education and other subjects. They are drawn from state and national standards and are meant to guide schools and districts as they set their student expectations, curriculum and instructional practices.

Common Core State Standards  The State Board of Education adopted the new standards for English language arts/literacy and mathematics at their July 8, 2010 meeting.  The Department held over 30 well-attended forums around the state from 2009 to 2011 regarding the new standards, including five with NH higher education faculty and NH K-12 educators to examine their relevance to success in college.  The CCSS are not a national or state curriculum nor are they federally mandated. Standards do not tell teachers how to teach; they articulate what students should know and be able to demonstrate in grades K-12. It remains up to each local school district to design curriculum to help their students successfully achieve the standards.

Common Core State Standards do NOT define:  How teachers should teach  All that can or should be taught  The nature of advanced work beyond the core standards  Standards in other content areas (science, social studies, art, etc…)  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

Exploring Common Core Standards  Opportunity to experience the CCSS as students might  English Language Arts/Literacy – David Pook  Standards – tools and skills  Activity - curriculum  Assessment – monitoring the development of skills  Mathematics – Jamie Sirois  Standards – tools and skills  Activity - curriculum  Assessment – monitoring the development of skills

Keep in mind…  Criticism of the Standards is often actually concern about the curriculum activities or how we assess student learning, not the Common Core Standards.  The standards are the considered opinions of educators, specialists and others about what our children need to succeed as engaged members of communities and the workforce.  Are the knowledge and skills articulated in the standards the types of things that YOU know and that you believe would be essential for our CHILDREN to know and be able to do?