Pennsylvania Common Core Standards & Student Assessments Changes

What Momentum is There for the Initiative? 48 states (Not Alaska, TX), the District of Columbia, and two territories have signed on to the National Common Core State Standards Initiative (PA is one of the states, and has made minor revisions)

Why is This Important for Students, Teachers, and Parents? Prepares students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and work Ensures consistent expectations regardless of a student’s zip code Provides educators, parents, and students with clear, focused guideposts

Why Now? Disparate standards across states Student mobility Global competition Today’s jobs require different skills

Criteria for the Standards Fewer, clearer, and higher Aligned with college and work expectations Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards Internationally benchmarked, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society Based on evidence and research

PA Common Core Curriculum

Shifts in Math Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Use appropriate tools strategically. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Attend to precision. Look for and make use of structure. Look for and make sense of regularity in repeated reasoning Emphasis on Conceptual Understanding

Shifts in English Language Arts Argumentative writing, emphasis on evidence Expository writing (frequent short research pieces) Increase in % of informational text--50% in third grade to 70% in HS, (note it is the whole HS experience not just English class) Increase in the complexity of texts Emphasis on Evidence

Shifts in English Language Arts Role of other disciplines in developing content based literacy Writing to inform and make arguments Literacy in other disciplines

Skills Supported/Demanded Common Core Curriculum Demonstrate Independence Build strong content knowledge Comprehend and critique Respond to demands of audience, task, and discipline Privilege evidence Use Technologically strategically & capably Understand other cultures & perspectives

Plan for Year Role of other disciplines in developing content based literacy Integrating, when possible, the Common Core with the alignment, assessment and remediation work for the Keystone Exams

More Information Visit Sign up for Common Core State Standards updates: More Hunt Institute Resources