CASE Meeting February 2, :00 - 5:30 p.m. Carrie Heath Phillips Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

Common Core State Standards Initiative Overview

 State-led and developed common core standards for K-12 in English/language arts and mathematics  Initiative led by Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and National Governors Association (NGA) Common Core State Standards Initiative

What are educational standards? Why do they matter?

Why do we need common standards? Why now?  Disparate standards across states  Global competition  Today’s jobs require different skills.  For many young people, a high school degree isn’t preparing them for college or a good job.

Why is This Important for Students, Teachers, and Parents?  Provides clear, focused guideposts  Delineates learning progressions that can help target instruction to the learners’ level  Offers economies of scale

Foundation for the Standards Aligned with college and work expectations  Prepare students for success in entry-level, credit- bearing, academic college courses (2 and 4 year postsecondary institutions)  Prepare students for success in careers that offer competitive, livable salaries above the poverty line, opportunities for career advancement, and are in growing or sustainable industries

Standards Development Process  College- and career-readiness standards for English/language arts and mathematics developed summer of  Based on the college and career readiness standards, K-12 standards for each grade were developed.  Continual input throughout the process from wide range of stakeholders.  Public comment period with nearly 10,000 responses.  Final standards released on June 2, 2010.

As of February 1, 2011, 41 states and DC have fully adopted the Common Core State Standards; 2 states have provisionally adopted the standards; and 1 state has adopted the ELA standards only.

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What’s in the Standards

Statement on Application for Students with Disabilities “ Students with disabilities are a heterogeneous group with one common characteristic: the presence of disabling conditions that significantly hinder their abilities to benefit from general education (IDEA 34 CFR §300.39, 2004). Therefore, how these high standards are taught and assessed is of the utmost importance in reaching this diverse group of students.” “Promoting a culture of high expectations for all students is a fundamental goal of the Common Core State Standards.”

Intentional design limitations The standards do NOT define:  How teachers should teach.  All that can or should be taught.  The nature of advanced work beyond the core.  The interventions needed for students well below grade level.  The full range of support for English learners and students with special needs.  Everything needed for students to be college and career ready.

STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS (ELA) & LITERACY IN HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS

Design and Organization Introduction  Description of capacities of a literate student (ex., demonstrate independence, come to understand other perspectives and cultures) Three main sections  K−5 (cross-disciplinary)  6−12 English Language Arts  6−12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Three appendices A: Research and evidence; glossary of key terms B: Reading text exemplars; sample performance tasks C: Annotated student writing samples

In developing knowledge and skills in English/language arts, learners:  Demonstrate independence.  Build strong content knowledge.  Respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline.  Comprehend as well as critique.  Value evidence.  Use technology and digital media strategically and capably.  Come to understand other perspectives and cultures. "Habits of mind" fostered by the Common Core State Standards

Design and Organization Four strands  Reading  Writing  Speaking and Listening  Language An integrated model of literacy Media requirements blended throughout

ELA Key Advances Reading  Balance of literature and informational texts  Text complexity Writing  Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing  Writing about sources Standards for reading and writing in history/ social studies, science, and technical subjects  Complement rather than replace content standards in those subjects  Responsibility of teachers in those subjects

MATHEMATICS STANDARDS

Design and Organization Standards for Mathematical Practice  Carry across all grade levels  Describe habits of mind of a mathematically expert student Standards for Mathematical Content  K-8 standards presented by grade level  High school standards presented by conceptual theme Appendix  Designing high school math courses based on the Common Core State Standards

In developing knowledge and skills in mathematics, learners:  Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.  Reason abstractly and quantitatively.  Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.  Model with mathematics.  Use appropriate tools strategically.  Attend to precision.  Look for and make use of structure.  Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. "Habits of mind" fostered by the Common Core State Standards

Fractions, Grades 3–6 3. Develop an understanding of fractions as numbers. 4. Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering. 4. Build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers. 4. Understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions. 5. Use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions. 5. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions. 6. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to divide fractions by fractions.

Math Key Advances  Focus in early grades on number (arithmetic and operations) to build a solid foundation in math  Evened out pace across the grades  High school math focus on using math and solving complex problems, similar to what would see in the real world  Problem-solving and communication emphasized

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Implementation & Common Assessments

What’s Next with Implementation?  States are implementing the standards now  Plans vary based on state context  Redesigning professional development and curriculum frameworks in 2011 Key challenge: develop educator understanding of level of student performance expected in the new standards and pedagogy to teach the standards in an integrated manner.  Communicating with stakeholders in 2011  Most major changes in instructional materials, graduation requirements, etc., not expected until 2013 or later  Teachers in most states will start teaching to the Common Core State Standards in 2-3 years.  Common assessments will be administered in school year.

What’s Next with Assessment?  New tests tied to the Common Core State Standards will be live in school year.  Grades 3 – high school  Two different consortia are developing assessments, so instead of every state having their own test, there will be only two different types of testing programs throughout the nation.

Two Assessment Consortia  Led by states; not organized through CCSSO and NGA  44 states participating in one or both consortia.  Funded by U.S. ED’s Race to the Top Program  Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)  $170M (plus $15.8M for transition) from feds  SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium  $160M (plus $15.8M for transition) from feds

PARCC Assessment Consortium

SMARTER Balanced (SBAC) Assessment Consortium

Consortia Similarities  Beyond multiple choice and short answer tests; will include performance tasks  Focus on depth of understanding and higher- order thinking skills  Computer-based, with quick turn-around for scoring  Digital libraries of resources, including released items, formative assessments, data- management system, and professional development

Consortia Differences  Computer-based adaptive testing is used in SMARTER Balanced Consortium. PARCC has computer-based, but not adaptive, testing.  Through-course exams given at defined points through the school year in PARCC and are part of the summative assessment. SMARTER Balanced has optional interim assessments and their summative assessment will be offered twice each school year.  Teacher scoring is emphasized in SMARTER Balanced when evaluating performance tasks.

Assessments for Students with Disabilities  End to 2% assessments  Two consortia funded to develop 1% assessments

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