1. Evaluating Common Core Math Materials What "Aligned to CC" Really Means john meinzen Edwardsville High School October 5, 2012

2. How this presentation “fits in” to Illinois’ Teaching Framework Domain 1: Planning and Preparation 1d Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources For classroom To extend content knowledge For students

3. Intro to the Tri-State Rubric Short History –In 2010-11, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) adopted by many states (Illinois among the leaders) –circa 2015, students (and educators?) will begin to be evaluated according to CCSS Current problems –CCSS are well-known but not well-understood…especially the Practice Standards –Task-based lessons are the new buzz words for student performance but they are showing up a bit too early to be carefully aligned with the PARCC tests (how can anyone be correctly aligned to something that doesn’t exist yet?) –“CC-Aligned” materials are commonplace but few people really understand the definition of “aligned” (hint: it has not been defined) Solution –In 2010-11, 3 states (New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts) were awarded a large grant to create a usable and free rubric to help educators understand classroom/coursework unit (or chapter) materials’ alignment and rigor to the CCSS. –The result was the Tri-State Rubric…the focus of this presentation

4. Tri-State Rubric Goals What it is useful for… Educators –Curriculum decision-makers to help evaluate or select CC course material –teacher professional development K-12 grades –today will be “training” on Algebra 1 (somewhere in 7-10 th grades) Math alignment with CC –a rubric is available for English as well evaluating Unit/Chapters –training will focus on Functions - usually part of Chapter 1 –CC standard F.IF.1 What it is not… Not a guideline for “the test” –though Tri-State Rubric designed along with PARCC support Not for daily lesson plans –though Unit/Chapter will contain such plans Not for the faint-hearted –make sure you have detailed-oriented people involved who are not afraid of being critical… let’s call these people “critical thinkers” Not a lecture –except for this PowerPoint

5. Noteworthy items on the Tri-State Rubric The Tri-State Rubric refers to a “Lesson” in the same way as that most Illinois educators think of as a “Chapter or Unit” (apparently, a “Lesson” in other parts of the country refer to materials covered in a week to several months) We (about 150 educators around the country) spent two 8-hour days training on the rubric in May 2012…we didn’t find a single “excellent” unit plan but we did learn a great deal about how “high” the expectation is. The rubric is “open source.” It can be modified by any group. The only requirement is that you give credit to the Tri-State Collaboration

6. Tri-State Math Rubric Single Page

7. Tri-State Math Rubric with Comment Blocks (page 1/2)

8. Tri-State Math Rubric with Comment Blocks (page 2/2)

9. Follow-up Info Tri-State Rubric –http://engageny.org/resource/tri-state-quality- review-rubric-and-rating-process/http://engageny.org/resource/tri-state-quality- review-rubric-and-rating-process/ –(currently at Version 4…but only minor differences) PowerPoint –www.meinzeit.com/ROE/Oct2012