Belle Chasse Academy 3 rd & 4 th Parent Meeting October 2, 2013

I Choose C Video

Factory School Model of the 20 th Century The factory school model of the 20 th century was designed to mimic what factories need in their workers. Now, the workforce wants employees that can work through issues to generate solutions that are successful without being dependent on someone at the top to solve it for them. If we don’t change our environment, we’re not going to create workers who can go out and fill the variety of roles that we need.

Why the Common Core? How are these Standards are Different? Why are we doing this? We have always had standards.

Before Common Core State Standards we had standards, but rarely did we have standards-based instruction. Long lists of broad, vague statements Mysterious assessments Coverage mentality, not mastery Focused on teacher behaviors – “the inputs”

Results Previous state standards did not improve student achievement. Gaps in achievement Gaps in expectations National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results ACT 2012 data – College Readiness Benchmark – Proficient Nationwide All 4 subject areas: 25% 3 subject areas:15% 2 subject areas:17% 1 subject area:15% None28% College remediation rates

Myths vs. Facts Myth: The Standards tell teachers what to teach. Fact: The best understanding of what works in the classroom comes from the teachers who are in them. That’s why these standards will establish what students need to learn, but they will not dictate how teachers should teach. Instead, schools and teachers will decide how best to help students reach the standards. Myth: These Standards amount to a national curriculum for our schools. Fact: The Standards are not a curriculum. They are a clear set of shared goals and expectations for what knowledge and skills will help our students succeed. Local teachers, principals, superintendents and others will decide how the standards are to be met. Teachers will continue to devise lesson plans and tailor instruction to the individual needs of the students in their classrooms.

Why CCSS Are Important for Louisiana? About 60% of jobs nationwide will require some type of postsecondary education by More Louisiana jobs are requiring a postsecondary education 2 ; of those: ◦ 69% require vocational training, certification, or associate degree ◦ 31% require bachelor degree Many Louisiana students are ill-equipped to succeed in college ◦ Louisiana’s college retention and graduation rates are among the lowest in the Southeast region (SREB) and the nation 3 ◦ About one third of first-time freshmen need remediation in college level courses 4 1 Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, June Louisiana Workforce Commission, 2009 Job Vacancy Survey 3 Southern Regional Education Board Fact Book on Higher Education, LDOE First-Time Freshmen and Developmental Rates, Public School Data,

What are our expectations? Based on the beliefs that A quality education is a key factor in providing all children with opportunities for their future It is not enough to simply complete school, or receive a credential – students need critical knowledge and skills This is not a 12 th grade or high school issue. It is an education system issue. Quality implementation of the Common Core State Standards is a necessary condition for providing all students with the opportunities to be successful after high school.

Principles of the CCSS Fewer - Clearer - Higher Aligned to requirements for college and career readiness Based on evidence Honest about time

ELA/Literacy: 3 shifts 1. Building knowledge through content- rich nonfiction 2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational 3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

Non-Examples and Examples Not Text-Dependent In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something. In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest. Discuss, in writing, a time when you wanted to fight against something that you felt was unfair. In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln says the nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Why is equality an important value to promote? Text-Dependent What makes Casey’s experiences at bat humorous? What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received? “The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?

Old writing prompt Write a report on Amelia Earhart. What did you like or dislike about the Biography of Amelia Earhart and why? New writing prompt After reading three texts describing Amelia Earhart’s bravery, write an essay that analyzes the strength of the arguments about her bravery in at least two of the texts. Remember to use textual evidence to support your ideas. Students should be able to pull specific examples from tests when writing about them.

Shift in Instructional Emphasis English Language Arts Previous Classroom Focus was on literature (fiction) Focus was on literary skills (identifying terms and devices like theme) ELA taught in isolation Common Core Classroom Informational texts prepare for college and careers Cross-content literacy integration ELA taught in collaboration

Mathematics Fewer standards at many grade levels Grade 3: 47 GLEs to 25 CCSS Balanced combination of procedural skill and understanding  Requires students to “explain” and “justify” rather than “define” and “identify” Content focuses are established at each grade allowing for more in- depth study of a given topic

Mathematics: 3 shifts 1. Focus: Focus strongly where the Standards focus. 2. Coherence: Think across grades, and link to major topics within grades. 3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application.

Traditional U.S. Approach

Focusing attention within Number and Operations Operations and Algebraic Thinking Expression and Equations Algebra  Number and Operations—Base Ten  The Number System  Number and Operations —Fractions  K High School

Priorities in Mathematics Grade Focus Areas in Support of Rich Instruction and Expectations of Fluency and Conceptual Understanding K–2 Addition and subtraction, measurement using whole number quantities 3–5 Multiplication and division of whole numbers and fractions 6 Ratios and proportional reasoning; early expressions and equations 7 Ratios and proportional reasoning; arithmetic of rational numbers 8 Linear algebra and linear functions

Required Fluencies in K-6

Mathematical Practices 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Model with mathematics. 5. Use appropriate tools strategically. 6. Attend to precision. 7. Look for and make use of structure. 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

How has Louisiana and Belle Chasse Academy prepared for Common Core?

Implementation Plan Created crosswalk documents between CCSS and current Louisiana standards (completed Summer 2011) Part time Master Teachers guided us through the transition to Common Core State Standards and our personal cycle of continuous school improvement. One development year ( ), followed by a 2-year transition to CCSS ( and ) Updating the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum ◦ Transitional curriculum (2-year phase-in of CCSS) ◦ New curriculum (full alignment to CCSS) Professional development on curriculum and instructional strategies (e.g., formative assessment) Earlier implementation of CCSS in grades PreK-2

: Development Year Three full time Instructional Coaches (Writer’s Workshop, Math, Literacy) continued to guide us through the transition to Common Core State Standards and our personal cycle of continuous school improvement. Revised Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum (LCC) to align with CCSS in ELA and mathematics for grades K-1 New Social Studies standards in grades K-12 Created transitional LCC for grades 2 and higher Deleted activities based on GLEs that have no match with CCSS Added activities to address new content required by CCSS Created LCC Professional Development Workshops and plan with districts for rollout of both transitional and new LCC Reviewed New Generation Science Standards (Spring 2012) to determine their appropriateness to replace current Louisiana science standards Began a voluntary district pilot program on the use of formative assessment performance tasks in ELA and math to guide their inclusion in the LCC and professional development

: Transition Year #1 Three full time Instructional Coaches (Math, Literacy and Instructional Technology) guided us through the first transitional year to Common Core State Standards and our personal cycle of continuous school improvement. Implemented new LCC aligned to ELA and math CCSS in grades K-1 Implemented transitional LCC in ELA and math for grades 2 and higher Began professional development workshops on the new LCC using a train-the-trainer model

: Transition Year #2 Four full time Instructional Coaches (ELA, Math, Content Literacy and Instructional Technology) continue to guide us through the 2 nd transitional year to Common Core State Standards and our personal cycle of continuous school improvement. Implementing new LCC aligned to ELA and math CCSS in grades K – 2 Continuing – Use of transitional LCC in grades 3 and higher – LCC professional development for teachers

How have the teachers prepared for this transitional year? Attended Professional Development Sessions Received a stipend to develop the new curriculum during summer sessions with the coaches Created units, lesson plans and conferred on how standardized tests aligned with Common Core goals Most teachers are fluent in pedagogy, but not developers of curriculum.

What are we doing to help the students during this transitional year? Re-teaching is adjusting a repeated delivery of content by addressing an individual student’s learning style, preference, interest, learning rate, and/or readiness. Re-learning is the informal and formal process of improving understanding and performance through active participation in the instructional cycle, including seeking and applying teacher feedback, asking questions for clarification, practicing skills, refining content knowledge, and using available resources. Re-assessing is the informal and formal process of gathering evidence of student learning after re-teaching and relearning; may involve re-grading within specific parameters.

: Full CCSS Implementation Full Implementation at all grades ◦ Common Core State Standards ◦ State-revised standards for social studies and science ◦ New LCC for all grades and subjects LCC professional development continues for teachers

Common Core Standards Video

Questions????