Implementing NVACS The State Role

State Law NRS NRS NRS

State Role: Four Capacities* Goal: Facilitate strong implementation of the Nevada Academic Content Standards and use to, ultimately, lead to improved student outcomes. Systems Alignment and System Change Educator Supports Student Supports Communication and Engagement *CCSSO Toolkit for implementing CCR standards

Where are we now? Review of district self-assessment – Implementation of NVACS Review of Professional Development Survey – Field assessment of educator support to fully implement NVACS – Develop a plan with recommendations to ensure educators have the knowledge and skill to implement NVACS – Draft findings

Possible Discussion Points Preparation of administrators to evaluate the NVACS in math and ELA lags all other Alignment of instructional material is second to administrator preparation for evaluation in overall lack of “readiness”. This finding confirms anecdotes from the field. This is especially acute for ELA. With the exception of Eureka County, no district identified “Complete Implementation” for both ELA and Math With the exception of Esmeralda County, no district identified “Incomplete Implementation” for both ELA and Math. Washoe and Lyon County indicated near “Complete Implementation” with the exception of one (WCSD) or two (Lyon) cells indicating “Partial Implementation”. The most common response included a diverse self-assessment of implementation across ELA and Math.

An Early Look at Professional Development and the NVACS Main Project Goals: – Identify the extent to which educators believe they are prepared to implement the NVACS – Determine what knowledge, skills, and resources educators believe they need to better implement the NVACS – Summarize educator feedback regarding professional development for math and ELA – Provide recommendations for how NDE can better support math and ELA instruction through professional development – Provide NDE with a preliminary menu of professional development options available to math and ELA educators during the school year

Study: Guiding Questions To what extent are educators prepared to implement the NVACS? How has professional development prepared educators for the NVACS? What knowledge, skills, and resources do educators need in order to effectively implement the NVACS?

Study: Recommendations Develop an FAQ document to explain recent and upcoming changes impacting educators and students. (e.g. What is the relationship between NEPF, NSPF, and NVACS?) Adopt a set of statewide professional development standards to represent NDE’s expectations for professional learning, especially at the school level. Ensure full implementation of NRS which requires that the State Board “review and evaluate a course of study …which is designed to provide the education required for…[t]he renewal of licenses of teachers or other educational personnel.” Update the NDE webpage to include a hub that directs teachers to high-quality, vetted math and ELA resources.

Study: Recommendations Provide online examples of planning documents, videos of instruction, and assessment samples that represent successful implementation of the NVACS. Provide online examples of student mastery of the NVACS for each grade level. Conduct further research to assess educator content knowledge and the relationship between professional development, educator content knowledge, and student performance. Maintain a calendar or menu of statewide professional development opportunities.

Where are we headed? Joined Council of Chief State School Officers 34 state collaborative (ICCS) Capacity review, based on capacities – Feedback on + and – 6 months of support from CCSSO and US Education Delivery Institute (EDI) to deliver results

Example From CCSSO ICCS Material

Timeline July: CCSSO/EDI review self-assessment and Professional Development Report July/August: CCSSO/EDI perform the capacity review over 3 days – Broad engagement August: Report received by Superintendent, plan developed August/September: Additional engagement of the State Board Fall 2014/ongoing: Execution of the plan – Lead by Office of Standards and Instructional Support