Introduction and Overview Rapid City Area Schools May 2011

CCSS The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are the next generation of K-12 standards that provide a common understanding of what students are expected to learn, regardless of where they live. The CCSS define the K-12 education so that students graduate prepared for either college or the workforce.

Students who are college and career ready: demonstrate independence. build strong content knowledge. respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline. comprehend as well as critique. value evidence. use technology and digital media strategically and capably. come to understand other perspectives and cultures.

Literacy Design Common Core State Standards English Language Arts Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects

Mathematics Design Common Core State Standards Mathematical Practice Mathematical Content 5

Standards for Mathematical Practice make sense of problems and persevere in solving them reason abstractly and quantitatively construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others model with mathematics use appropriate tools strategically attend to precision look for and make use of structure look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning 6

Key Advances in Literacy and Mathematics Increased cognitive complexity Emphasis on working at higher-order thinking skills Literacy emphasis in all content areas

Good news The CCSS match the district's philosophical stance of Balanced Literacy and Inquiry Based Mathematics. We have three years to prepare in a thoughtful way. The state, district, and buildings will be offering opportunities for professional development. Rapid City Area Schools are poised and well prepared to implement the CCSS.

Where do we go from here? Explore the CCSS and listen for opportunities to learn more. Begin using the CCSS during the school year. The assessment is scheduled for 100% alignment in