Walnut Valley Unified School District An Introduction to the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced Assessments February 2014

Common Core State Standards Preparing All Students for College, Career and Life Success

Essential Objectives Explanation of the Common Core Standards and Instructional Shifts Overview of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System (SBAC) and scheduling for our district Parent Resources

WILL OUR STUDENTS BE PREPARED? 2014 – Kindergarten 2017 – Third Grade 2020 – Middle School 2026 – Graduation Day

OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE 1.What will the world be like 20 years from now when our kindergartners are finishing college and entering into their careers? What skills will they need to be successful?

Transition to the Common Core

The Common Core Standards: Provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn Rigorous and relevant to the real world Reflects the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers Students ready to compete successfully in the global economy. 7

8 Implementing Common Core Standards: Requires our education system to do things substantially differently at all levels Requires a more integrated approach to delivering content instruction. -Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction California Department of Education, 2011

The Standards Provide a Paradigm Shift for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Emphasis on the answer CST/CAHSEE - Multiple Choice Emphasis on the learning process Next Generation Assessments - Performance - Portfolio - Project 9

The Standards Provide a Paradigm Shift for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Deliverer of Knowledge Coach/Facilitator of Socially Constructed Knowledge 10

The Standards Provide a Paradigm Shift for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Literacy in English Language Arts Shared Literacy Across All Content Areas -Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening -Literacy through the lens of an historian, scientist, mathematician… 11

The Standards Provide a Paradigm Shift for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Teaching Independently -Silos, Individual Approach Teaching and Learning Collaboratively -Professional Learning Communities 12

Transition Implementation Awareness I.Understand the “Why” II.Understand the “Shifts” III. Understand the Assessment Curriculum Development Pacing Guides Materials and Support Docs Sample Lessons Assessments Instructional Methodology WVUSD CCSS Plan

6 Shifts in ELA/Literacy

Literacy Shift 1: Building Knowledge through Content-Rich Non-Fiction Students must…Parents can… Read more non-fiction texts and sources Be able to discuss the text using details from the source Utilize primary source documents Supply more non-fiction texts Read aloud or discuss non-fiction texts with your child Have fun with non-fiction in front of them

Literacy Shift 2: Literacy Instruction in All Content Areas Students must…Parents can… Read science and social texts Handle “primary source” documents Utilize all types of sources Supply series of texts on topics of interest Find books that provide explanation of different topics Discuss non-fiction texts and the ideas in the content

Literacy Shift 3: Text Complexity Students must…Parents can… Re-read Read material at comfort level and work with more challenging material Build perseverance with working on assignments Provide challenging grade appropriate texts Read challenging material with children Demonstrate that challenging material is worth reading

Literacy Shift 4: Text-Based Answers Students must…Parents can… Find evidence to support different points of view Form opinion and justify with facts Discuss what the author is intending to communicate Help find the facts or information in the text Expect evidence in daily discussions/viewpoints Ask questions and expect answers based on facts and evidence

Literacy Shift 5: Writing from Sources Students must…Parents can… Make arguments in writing using evidence Compare multiple sources in writing Write using evidence from sources Encourage writing at home Write “books” together and use evidence and details Reference primary sources for authenticity

Literacy Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary Students must…Parents can… Learn the words that they can use in college and career Understand the power of language Read often and share learned knowledge Read multiple books about the same topics Let your kids see you reading Listen to your children, read often, sing with your children, make up silly rhymes and games with young children

Six Math Shifts

Mathematics Shift 1: Focus Students must…Parents can… Learn foundational skills Experience deeper learning with concepts Know foundational skills for your child’s grade level Frequently review previously acquired knowledge Ask your child’s teacher about their progress

Mathematics Shift 2: Coherence Students must…Parents can… Keep building on learning year after year Be aware of what your child struggled with last year, and how that will affect learning this year Advocate for your child and ensure that support is given for “gap” skills

Mathematics Shift 3: Fluency Students must…Parents can… Spend time practicing lots of problems on the same idea Insist children master basic math facts to memory Know all of the fluencies your child should have and prioritize learning of the ones that they don’t

Mathematics Shift 4: Deep Understanding Students must…Parents can… Understand how math works Articulate why the math works Prove that they know why and how the math works Notice whether your child really knows why the answer is what it is Advocate for the time your child needs to learn key math Provide time for your child to work with math at home

Mathematics Shift 5: Applications Students must…Parents can… Apply math in real world situations Know which math to use for which situation Ask your child to DO the math that comes up in daily life Ask questions, rather than give answers: ▫How do you know? ▫Do you know where to find the needed information? ▫Can you make a table or diagram to show what’s happening?

Mathematics Shift 6: Dual Intensity Students must…Parents can… Be able to use core math facts…fast! Be able to apply math in the real world Be able to explain how they got an answer Make sure your child is practicing the math facts she/he struggles with Make sure your child is thinking about MATH in real life Recognize there may be more than one way to solve a problem

WVUSD Areas of Focus for CCSS 21 st Century Skills 21 st Century Skills will be the highly visible aspect of the change in the classroom WVUSD focusing on the 5 C’s  Critical Thinking  Collaboration  Creativity  Communication  Citizenship

WVUSD and CCSS Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten and First Grades began transitioning to teaching Common Core standards, shifts and strategies in Transitional Kindergarten developed a report card that mirrors the CCSS Second-twelve grades are transitioning implementing CCSS shifts and strategies in Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Grade English Language Arts classes have new textbooks written to the CCSS. Staff Development has taken place and continues for teachers at all levels through the district and site levels Outside consultants and conferences are utilized for additional resources

Moving from Pencil/Paper to Computer Based Test

Next Generation Assessments: SBAC 31

Assessments March 18-April 25 – Smarter Balanced Field Test on computer devices on English-language arts (ELA) and math in grades 3-8, Walnut High School 10 th graders and Diamond Bar High School 11 th graders Field test is not computer adaptive Districts, schools or parents will NOT be receiving any type of student data reports - field test only CST Science paper/pencil assessment in grades 5, 8, and th graders will take the paper/pencil CST to allow for college placement results (Early Assessment Placement)

How WVUSD is Moving Forward... District provides professional development to teachers and administration Sites dedicate time for professional development Staff Development days dedicated to implementation Grade level CCSS days Technology increasing at all schools District Steering Committee formed to oversee plan and expenditure of state funds for implementation

Smarter Balance Assessments Wvusd.k12.ca.us

Please write any questions you may have on the index card. We will post all questions and answers on our WVUSD website, under CCSS link If you have additional questions, please contact your child’s principal or Jackie Brown, Director of Educational Projects, , extension Questions?