Agenda 8:30-9:00Why Common Core State Standards 9:00-9:30Common Core State Standards Overview 9:30-9:45Valley Springs Implementation Plan 10:00-11:30Dig into Common Core Standards 11:30-12:30Lunch 12:30-1:15Overview of the TLI Alignment 1:15-3:30TLI Alignment

Common Core State Standards Summer, 2011 Presented by Judy Green Information from Arkansas Department of Education

Did you know? By 2018, 63% of all jobs are expected to require postsecondary education. Currently only 26% of young adults (25-34) in the United States have college degrees. Source: Higher Ed

State-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) with assistance from Achieve, ACT, and the College Board (SAT)

AR State Board of Education adopted on July 12, 2010

Why Common Core State Standards? 6 Too many students graduate from high school unprepared to succeed in college and/or 21 st century careers. Results? puts students’ future opportunities at risk has a harmful effect on our states’ and the nation’s economy “Expectations Gap”

Mission Statement The standards are designed to be  Robust  Rigorous  Relevant to the real world The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them.

“Common Core State Standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the next step. “ Excerpt from Common Core State Standards Document

Assessment!

NEXT GENERATION ASSESSMENTS

To develop assessments that don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21 st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity. What is the Goal of these Next Generation Assessments?

2 Testing Consortia Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) New assessments will be ready by

Key features in PARCC… Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Highlights from the PARCC Summary

States will adopt common assessments and performance standards.

Assessment system will be anchored in college and career readiness.

Students will take parts of the assessment at key times during the year. “Through-course assessments”

Assessments will be computer based.

Assessments will include sophisticated items and performance tasks.

To develop assessments that don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21 st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity. Goal of Next Generation Assessments

What else can we expect to see? Science (draft by Fall 2011) English Language Development Standards for ELLs (within 1 year) Social Studies (within 2 years) Arts (development may begin January 2011)

Intended Outcomes of PARCC Assessments Report achievement based on clear expectations; ability to compare across state lines Use results in school accountability determinations and educator evaluations Integrate assessment system with standards, curriculum, resources, and professional work Rapid use of data to guide instruction

“Standards and assessments are only the foundation upon which states will construct high-quality curriculum, professional development, and all the other pieces that will support teachers preparing to teach to these new standards and students learning at higher levels. ---Education Secretary Arne Duncan

What are the Common Core State Standards? A set of shared K-12 learning expectations for students in English language arts and mathematics Provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn Designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers

Why does Arkansas need CCSS? Help ensure that students are receiving a high quality education consistently, from school to school and state to state Provide a greater opportunity to share experiences and best practices within and across states that will improve our ability to serve the needs of students

Will the CCSS prevent local teachers from deciding what or how to teach? No. Local teachers, principals, superintendents, and others will decide how the standards are to be met. Teachers will continue to develop lesson plans and tailor instruction to the individual needs of the students in their classrooms. Local teachers, principals, superintendents, and school boards will continue to make decisions about curriculum.

Standards do not tell teachers how to teach, but they do help teachers understand the knowledge and skills their students should have so that teachers can build the best lessons for their classrooms

Will the CCSS completely replace Arkansas’s existing academic standards for mathematics and English language arts? Yes. However, many of Arkansas’s current academic standards and student learning expectations align to the CCSS, although the CCSS may introduce some content at different grade levels and the breadth and depth of topic complexities may be greater.

Will we see a drop in test scores due to the more rigorous standards? The new standards require a higher level of mastery of information and concepts and this higher bar may impact student scores, at least initially. There is a dip in scores for a short period of time until schools are able to incorporate all the changes that are part of the CCSS. As the new requirements are established, our scores will rise.

Will states receive financial help to implement the CCSS? Resources designed to support the standards have the potential to be shared readily with all states A Joint Task Force on the Mathematics has united to help support mathematics educators in the implementation of the new CCSS A primary goal of this group is to create a CCSS implementation website that includes a variety of tools and resources for K-12 teachers

A Common Core Curriculum Mapping Project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has designed English language arts curriculum maps for use by school districts. It is anticipated that, in the future, textbooks and curriculum resources could be available through open source environments for use by all participating states.

The 25 states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers PARCC) plan to develop content frameworks, units of study and performance tasks aligned to the CSS, and additional resources.

THE BIG QUESTION… WHAT SHOULD WE BE DOING RIGHT NOW IN PREPARATION FOR IMPLEMENTING THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS?

Guiding Questions for Understanding the Common Core State Standards What are we currently doing that is in line with the content of these standards? What is different between these standards and what we are currently teaching?

What changes in practice will these standards necessitate? How will we go about making these changes? What support will we need?

How can social studies, science, and technical subject areas begin to use the literacy standards in their content areas? What support will they need?

What is ADE doing to help schools transition to the CCSS? A detailed crosswalk that identifies which standards match between the two sets - and indicates the degree to which the Arkansas standards are found within the new Common Core Standards - has been completed and sent to districts and education cooperatives.

Common Core State Standards Task Force Professional Development Leadership Teams Additional resources will be forthcoming from ADE; PARCC and Achieve ADE Website - Area has been designated for CCSS Initiative Maximize the use of technology

Understanding the Common Core State Standards

Common Core State Standards Design Building on the strength of current state standards, the CCSS are designed to be: Focused, coherent, clear and rigorous Internationally benchmarked Anchored in college and career readiness* Evidence and research based *Ready for first-year credit-bearing, postsecondary coursework in mathematics and English without the need for remediation.

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

Grade-Level Standards  K-8 grade-by-grade standards organized by domain  9-12 high school standards organized by conceptual categories Standards for Mathematical Practice  Describe mathematical “habits of mind”  Standards for mathematical proficiency: reasoning, problem solving, modeling, decision making, and engagement  Connect with content standards in each grade Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

42 The K- 8 standards: The K-5 standards provide students with a solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and decimals The 6-8 standards describe robust learning in geometry, algebra, and probability and statistics Modeled after the focus of standards from high-performing nations, the standards for grades 7 and 8 include significant algebra and geometry content Students who have completed 7 th grade and mastered the content and skills will be prepared for algebra, in 8 th grade or after Overview of K-8 Mathematics Standards

43 Format of K-8 Mathematics Standards Domains: overarching ideas that connect topics across the grades Clusters: illustrate progression of increasing complexity from grade to grade Standards: define what students should know and be able to do at each grade level

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

45 Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards  Overarching standards for each strand that are further defined by grade-specific standards Grade-Level Standards in English Language Arts  K-8, grade-by-grade  9-10 and grade bands for high school  Four strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects  Standards are embedded at grades K-5  Content-specific literacy standards are provided for grades 6-8, 9-10, and 11-12

46 Overview of Reading Strand Reading Progressive development of reading comprehension; students gain more from what they read Emphasize the importance of grade-level texts that are of appropriate difficulty and are increasingly sophisticated  Standards for Reading Foundational Skills (K-5)  Reading Standards for Literature (K-12)  Reading Standards for Informational Text (K-12)  Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies (6-12)  Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects (6-12)

47 Overview of Writing Strand Writing Expect students to compose arguments and opinions, informative/explanatory pieces, and narrative texts Focus on the use of reason and evidence to substantiate an argument or claim Emphasize ability to conduct research – short projects and sustained inquiry Require students to incorporate technology as they create, refine, and collaborate on writing Include student writing samples that illustrate the criteria required to meet the standards (See standards’ appendices for writing samples)

48 Overview of Speaking and Listening and Language Strands Speaking and Listening Focus on speaking and listening in a range of settings, both formal and informal – academic, small-group, whole-class discussions Emphasize effective communication practices Require interpretation and analysis of message as presented through oral, visual, or multimodal formats Language Include conventions for writing and speaking Highlight the importance of vocabulary acquisition through a mix of conversation, direct instruction, and reading To be addressed in context of reading, writing, speaking and listening Media and Technology are integrated throughout the standards.

49 Overview of Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Reading Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Knowledge of domain-specific vocabulary Analyze, evaluate, and differentiate primary and secondary sources Synthesize quantitative and technical information, including facts presented in maps, timelines, flowcharts, or diagrams Writing Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Write arguments on discipline-specific content and informative/explanatory texts Use of data, evidence, and reason to support arguments and claims Use of domain-specific vocabulary