1. The Tri-State Rubric: A Tool To Align Lesson Plans and Units to the Common Core State Standards
Illinois State Board of Education
English Language Arts Content Specialists
Hosted by Kathi Rhodus, June 2012
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2. Today’s Target Gain knowledge about the Tri-State Rubric - a tool to help teachers and district personnel know if a lesson plan/unit is aligned to the Common Core State Standards.
Lesson Plan or Unit
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3. The History Behind the Tool
The Tri-State Collaborative (comprised of educational leaders from Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island and facilitated by Achieve) has developed criterion-based rubrics and review processes to evaluate the quality of lessons and units intended to address the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and ELA/Literacy. Now representatives from more than 25 states regularly convene to fine-tune the rubric. This presentation will focus on the ELA/Literacy rubric.
Presently representatives from the PARCC states are meeting quarterly in Washington D.C. to continue to provide ACHIEVE with feedback to improve the rubric. ACHIEVE is asking the states to use the rubric “as is” for now. Improvements will most likely be minor and the current rubric will be sufficient to determine alignment.
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4. Purpose
The primary purpose of this process: To provide specific input for improvement of instruction, so teaching and learning are aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
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5. Tri-State Quality Review Rubric is designed to evaluate:
Lessons that include instructional activities and assessments aligned to CCSS, extending over a few class periods or days.
Units that include integrated and focused lessons aligned to CCSS extending over a longer period of time.
The rubric is NOT designed
to evaluate a single task or activity.
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Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

6. The Tri-State Rubric Consists of Four Dimensions
Dimension #1 Alignment to the Rigors of CCSS Dimension #2 Key Areas of Focus in the CCSS Dimension #3 Instructional Supports Dimension #4 Assessment
Each dimension is a column on the Tri-State rubric. These dimensions will not change as the states meet to determine changes.
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7. Step #1 Understand the Rubric
Identify the following components on the Tri-State Rubric.
The criteria that define the rubric are organized as a checklist describing quality in four dimensions.
The most critical criteria are considered “must haves” for a quality CCSS lesson/unit and are marked with **.
There is a rating scale for each dimension using 3, 2, 1, or 0.
There is an “overall” rating scale using E,E/I,R or N.
Provide participants a copy of Handout #1 as they look at the next 3 slides.
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8. Step #2 Use the Rubric & Criteria to Evaluate a Lesson/Unit
Record the grade and title of the lesson/unit at the top of the rubric.
Scan the lesson/unit.
Identify the grade-level CCSS that the lesson/unit targets.
Do a close reading of text that serves as the centerpiece for the lesson/unit.
Analyze the lesson unit for evidence of Dimension One. Check the criteria for which there is clear and substantial evidence of meeting the descriptors.
Determine a rating for Dimension One.
Circle the rating at the bottom of the column.
Use the criteria to make observations and recommendations about this lesson/unit.
Continue the same process with each dimension.
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9. Step #3 Determine an Overall Rating
The four dimensional ratings for a particular lesson or unit can tell a lot about its current status as an exemplar of CCSS instruction.
For example: A lesson rated might be seen as well aligned with the CCSS and its Areas of Focus, but needs some additional thinking about Instructional Supports and some significant revision in its approach to Assessment.
Review the patterns of the checked criteria and the ratings for each of the four dimensions.
Make a summary judgment about the overall quality using E, E/I, R or N.
Record the Overall Rating on the top right of the Rubric.
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10. Feedback Format
The two page format is used during the review process and includes columns for recording observations, comments, and suggestions for improvement.
The one page format contains the entire rubric including dimensions, criteria, and ratings.
With this slide, distribute Handout #2. This rubric is designed so specific feedback can be given. Educators can use this to provide feedback to their own lessons/units or to provide feedback to a colleague’s lesson plans/unit plans.
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Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

11. Resources Tri-State Rubric
Currently, the Tri-State rubric can be found at this site. As revisions are made to the rubric, it may be posted to additional sites.
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12. Contact Information
Sarah McCusker,100 N. First Street, Springfield, Illinois (217) Erik Iwersen, Area I-A,B,D (708) Amy Robinson, Area I-C (630) Jill Brown, Area II (815) Katy Sykes, Area III and IV (815) Kathi Rhodus, Area V and VI (618)
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