ESEA FLEXIBILITY WAIVER Principle 1 – College & Career Ready Standards and Assessments Alaska’s Initial DRAFT Proposal August 2, 2012 Alaska Department of Education & Early Development

Principle 1: College- and Career-Ready Expectations for All Students Requirements for waiver: Adopt college- and career-ready (CCR) standards in at least reading/language arts and mathematics (not required to adopt Common Core standards; state’s standards would need approval from Institutions of Higher Education that students who meet standards would not need remediation in college) Transition to and implementation of CCR standards Develop and administer statewide, aligned, high-quality assessments that measure student growth Adopt English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards for English Learners that correspond to the state’s new CCR standards and develop aligned ELP assessments 2

College & Career Ready Standards College & Career Ready standards in English Language Arts and Math adopted by State Board of Education on June 8, 2012 State received Letter of support from University of Alaska president certifying that students who meet new standards will not need remedial coursework at the postsecondary level Standards have same depth and rigor as the common core standards adopted by other states 3

Transition to College & Career Ready Standards Process of transition to new standards Phase I: Increase awareness of new standards – provide awareness campaign and tools to support transition Phase II: Transition to new standards - provide support for curriculum alignment to and instruction in new standards Phase III: Full implementation of new standards - continue support for instruction of students based on new standards 4

Timeline for Transition SY – Conduct awareness campaign and provide tools to support transition to new standards SY – Provide support for curriculum alignment and changes in instructional practices to new standards SY – Continue support for instruction in new standards. SY – Continue support for instruction in new standards. 5

Tools to Support Transition Awareness Phase Standards Organizational Charts – ELA & Math Guide to Reading the Standards – ELA & Math Treasure Hunts - Alaska ELA and Math Standards Jeopardy Review Game - new Alaska Standards Measuring Text Complexity: Three Factors – ELA New Math Content Standards Overview Math Glossaries including K-5 operation tables Alaska Standards documents (ELA, Math & Literacy) Literacy Blueprint Crosswalk – Alaska ELA Standards Alignment Study Webinar Series - New Standards Overview, ELA & Math Teacher and Parent Guides to New Alaska Standards 6

Tools to Support Transition Transition phase District Leaders Guide to the new Alaska ELA and Math Standards Comparison Tools For Standards Transition (New Standards & GLEs) High School Courses and Sequences Guidance – Math New Alaska Standards Self-Assessment Webinar Series Comparison Tool for Standards Transition 5 Components of Rigorous Reading Instruction Understanding Text Complexity – ELA Reading Basal Alignment Tool – ELA Math Practices Overview and Resources New Math Content Standards Overview 7

Tools to Support Transition Transition and Implementation Phases Webinars Transition Tools Webinars Content Specific Webinars Conferences/Events Curriculum Alignment Institute Summer Literacy Institute Alaska Reading Course EED Conference Calendar – additional events 8

Assessments New assessments must be high-quality, aligned to the standards, and be able to measure student growth Timeline Field test new test items and item types based on new standards in current Standards Based Assessments (SBAs) beginning with spring 2013 assessment Implement new assessments based on new standards in Options Participate in or use assessments created by one of the 2 assessment consortia (PARRC or Smarter Balanced) Create Alaska specific assessment 9

English Learners Adopt English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards for English learners (LEP students) aligned to Alaska’s new standards Alaska adopted new ELP standards in 2011 based on the WIDA consortium standards The current ELP standards already have a strong alignment with both English/Language Arts and content areas WIDA is currently in the process of updating their standards to be aligned with the common core Language Arts and Math standards Alaska will review updated WIDA standards that are aligned with the when they become available and will consider them for adoption at that time 10

English Learners Develop English language proficiency assessment aligned to ELP standards Alaska implemented the ACCESS for ELLs from the WIDA Consortium as the new ELP assessment in 2012 Alaska will review the updated ACCESS for ELLs assessment from WIDA when it becomes available and consider it for adoption at that time 11

Comments on Waiver Proposal Submit comments and feedback by August 21 on Alaska’s waiver proposal through the online feedback form Link under “News & Announcements” on EED’s home page: Questions on Principle 1: Transition to new standards Karen Melin, Language Arts Content Specialist, Cecilia Miller, Mathematics Content Specialist, Bjorn Wolter, Science Content Specialist, 907- Assessments Erik McCormick, Director of Assessment & Accountability 12