Transitioning to the Common Core State Standards Susan Pimentel

Design and Organization College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards provide focus and coherence

Design and Organization K − 12 standards  Grade-specific end-of- year expectations  Cumulative progression of skills and understandings  One-to-one correspondence with CCR standards

Fundamental Shifts in the CCSS Addressing literacy across-the-curriculum Spotlight on text complexity New grounding in informational texts (50:50; 75:25) Writing about texts (drawing evidence from texts) Particular emphasis on marshaling arguments Conducting short, focused research projects Focus on academic vocabulary Evidence, evidence, evidence!

Likely Key Shifts on Assessments Most Current Tests Next Generation Assessments Measure ELA only Measure ELA, Historical, Scientific and Technical Literacy (informational text) Write to de- contextualized prompts Respond in writing to authentic texts Write narratives Write arguments Measure academic vocabulary Measure text complexity Assess complex, integrated performances (research, multi-media) Paper and Pencil Computerized assessment One EOY assessment Several assessments

Ten Guiding Principles for Literacy Across the Curriculum 1. Structure instruction so all students read grade level complex texts 2. Provide texts that are valuable sources of information and provide opportunities for students to gain knowledge from careful reading 3. Provide scaffolding that does not preempt the text in the form of high quality text-dependent questions 4. Include opportunities to combine quantitative information from charts and graphs with information derived from the text

Ten Guiding Principles, cont’d 5. Focus on academic vocabulary (in addition to domain- specific vocabulary) 6. Provide extensive research and writing opportunities for students to draw evidence from texts 7. Understand and engage in arguments 8. Questions and tasks require careful comprehension of the text before asking for comparisons with other texts 9. Design whole-group and small-group instruction that cultivates student responsibility 10. Cultivate students’ independence

The Crisis of Text Complexity Gap between college and high school texts is huge: o HS textbooks have declined in all subject areas over several decades o Average length of sentences in K-8 textbooks have declined from 20 to 14 words o Vocabulary demands have declined, e.g., 8 th grade textbooks= former 5 th grade texts; 12 th grade anthologies=former 7 th grade How much should we worry about this?

ACT Study Tells Us To Worry A Lot Not the type or level of Question… …But the degree of Text Complexity that students could handle that predicts their success!

Recap of ACT Findings Question type (main idea, word meanings, details) is NOT the chief differentiator between students scoring above and below the benchmark. Question level (higher order vs. lower order; literal vs. inferential) is NOT the chief differentiator between students either. What students could read, in terms of its complexity--rather than what they could do with what they read--is greatest predictor of success. Likelihood of success under unless students answer at least 40 percent of complex text questions correctly.

Too Many Students Reading at Too Low a Level Only half of high school graduates are able to read college and career ready text Deficiencies are not equal opportunity...

Why Not Use Simplified Texts? Simplified texts often synonymous with restricted, limited, and thin in meaning Academic vocabulary can only be learned from complex texts Mature language skills can only be gained by working with demanding materials No evidence that struggling readers—especially at middle and high school—catch up by gradually increasing the complexity of simpler texts

Shared Challenge: What Can We Do? Bust the myth that development of reading skills must be sequential--allow students to practice with complex texts while they get extra support Practice with lots of short texts Slow down, read and re-read Offer sequences of engaging questions (not explanations) Place a premium on stamina and persistence Offer extra support to students who need it

Other Complexity Considerations Percent of informational text assigned Writing arguments about texts read Academic vocabulary!

Vital to Focus on Informational Text Harder for students to comprehend informational text than narrative text due to its features Much of our knowledge base comes from info text Academic vocabulary comes largely from info text Makes up vast majority of the required reading in college/workplace (80 percent) Yet students are asked to read very little of it in elementary and middle school (7 to 15 percent) CCSS moves percentages to 50:50 at elementary level and 75:25 at secondary level

Writing Arguments About Texts “Soul of Education” Standards ask students to master three types of writing Narrative writing gives way to arguments and writing to explain/inform by high school (80:20) But not writing to decontextualized prompts Only 20 percent of those who enter college are “argument literate”

Persuasion vs. Logical Arguments Appeal to character or credentials of the writer Appeal to audience’s self-interest or emotion Can be based on personal opinion un-tethered to evidence vs. Convince because of perceived merit and reasonableness of the claims and proof Support claims with evidence Something far beyond surface knowledge is required Based on analyzing research and data

Critical Role of Academic Vocabulary to Reading Comprehension Instruction needs to be developed from text (frequency of rare words in even educated adult conversation is 17.3 per 1000 words) Needs to include a heavy dose of informational text To be college and career ready, students need to learn 2000 words per year...can only do from reading a lot Needs to teach how meanings of words vary with context (e.g., Texas was admitted to the union, he admitted his errors, admission was too expensive)

What Is General Academic Vocabulary? Words that are likely to appear frequently in a wide variety of texts/disciplines (utility & importance) Words that are necessary for understanding a text and allow for rich representations (instructional potential) Words that relate to other words and offer students more precise ways of referring to ideas they already know about (conceptual understanding)

Systematic Vocabulary Study is Key For each text students read, Beck suggests: o Listing all words likely to be unfamiliar to students (academic and domain-specific) o Choosing academic vocabulary necessary for comprehension o Choosing domain-specific terminology that requires a definition to be understood o Then determining which words need brief attention and which need extended attention

Gettysburg Address Exemplar Lavish love and attention on the text (3 days of study) Interplay of scaffolds and building students’ independent capacity Represents several key shifts in the CCSS o Text is central to the lesson (read, re-read, slow down) o Focus on complex text...complex, informational text (R.10) o Questions require evidence (R.1) o Focus on academic vocabulary (R.4; L.6) o Analyze the text in writing (W.9)

Overview of the Three Days Day One: What’s at stake: A nation as a place and as an idea (first two paragraphs) Day Two: From funeral to new birth (third paragraph) Day Three: Dedication as national identity and personal devotion So where to start?

Well, first where not to start... The lesson does not: Provide context about Lincoln or the Civil War Provide the main idea, purpose, or theme Ask students to predict what Lincoln will say

Recap of Instructional Moves First move : teacher does little to introduce So as not to simplify the text or rob students of discovering things for themselves Second move : students read to themselves Research shows students reading and re-reading improves their comprehension Third move : teacher reads portion of speech out loud Research shows that teachers reading out loud improves fluency and builds vocabulary—smoothes out comprehension bumps caused by dysfluency, allowing all to access challenging text

Recap of Instructional Moves Fourth move : students paraphrase or translate into own words Research shows asking students to write about what they read strengthens their comprehension of texts Fifth move : teacher asks a series of specific, text-dependent questions Text-dependent questions serve as the scaffolding. They sustain focus on the paragraphs, sentences and even words of the text. They ask for evidence to support claims. Sixth move : students write an independent essay on what Lincoln says is the task left to those listening to his speech

Day Three: Trace How the Power of a Word Grows How many times does Lincoln use the word dedicate ? What verb is first associated with dedicate ? What verb is associated with the next two uses? What word is associated with the final two uses of dedicate ?

Importance of Text-Dependent Q’s in the Lesson Require students to follow the details of what is explicitly stated and make valid claims that square with text evidence Do not require information or evidence from outside the text Linger over specific phrases and sentences Questions build on each other so students stay focused on the text & learn fully from it % of reading standards require text-dependent analysis yet about over 30% of Q’s in major textbooks do not Let’s look at some samples from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address...

Text Dependent Questions? What are the people who are assembled at Gettysburg there to do? Have you ever been to a funeral? What is the unfinished work that Lincoln asks those listening to commit themselves to at the end of the speech? Lincoln says that the nation is dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal.” Why is equality an important value to promote? Did Lincoln think that the north was going to “pass the test” that the civil war posed? Why did Lincoln give this speech? Explain the logical progression of Lincoln’s argument.

Follow-Up Activities Compare Lincoln’s five drafts of the Gettysburg Address Compare reactions to the Gettysburg Address: a Chicago Times editorial written shortly after Lincoln delivered his speech a historical study of Lincoln’s speech written some one hundred and thirty years after (Garry Wills) What words might one expect Lincoln to use that don’t appear? (slavery/slave, North/South, soldier)

Note What the Lesson Does: Allows the mystery to unfold Includes scaffolding that doesn’t simplify the text (series of specific questions) Asks questions that require evidence Provides keen focus on paragraphs, sentences, and even words

Note What the Lesson Doesn’t Do: Doesn’t ask students for their personal opinion or what they are feeling Doesn’t ask big, broad questions just to get students talking (no bigger questions than how Lincoln secures his claim) Doesn’t ask students to compare another text to Lincoln’s speech

What Can States Do Now? Focus! Take Complexity Inventory of what students are reading in each grade and make adjustments Do not deny students access to complexity —ask all students to stretch to read short texts (with supports) Adjust balances of texts so students are exposed to more informational texts k-12 in and out of English classes Teach students to read closely...to slow down to understand key points and to re-read passages

What to Do Now, cont’d. Focus PD on teaching complex texts, building text- dependent questions, teaching vocabulary and writing to sources Attend to building general academic vocabulary systematically across-the-board (Make word learning part of the school culture!) Give frequent formative assessments that present students with standards based tasks and provide no direct teacher support ( reading, then writing to sources ) Beware of publishers who proclaim their materials are already aligned or simply add chapters/material— more is not better (use Publisher’s Criteria)

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