CCRS Implementation 2013-2014

A Message from Dr. Bice Four Absolutes: Teach to the standard. Develop a clearly articulated K-12 curriculum to reflect the scope and sequence of instruction most appropriate for your learners based on the content standards. Align human, programmatic, and fiscal resources to support the implementation of the aligned curriculum – the enacted and taught curriculum. Progress monitor regularly through formative, interim, and benchmark assessments. Adjust/differentiate instruction based on your formative, interim, and benchmark assessments.

Outcomes Participants will Review and reflect on the awareness phase of CCRS implementation Gain an understanding of the Tri-State Quality Rubric for lessons and units 90 minutes in the morning minutes after lunch Background for facilitators: (Common Core ELA in a PLC at Work; Fisher and Frey) The CCRS for ELA present high school English educators with challenges as well as opportunities. The shifts in our ways of thinking about literacy development are considerable, and require us to collectively look at our own practices and plan collaboratively with our colleagues. These expectations can pose a major roadblock for schools that do no have a forum for conducting this important work. It is not the kind of work that can be accomplished with a few workshops and some follow-up meetings. Determining how these changes will be implemented as well as identifying the effective practices that have already proven to be successful, will require focused and sustained attention as educators develop curriculum, design formative assessments, and interpret results. (page 23) The CCRS for ELA require that teachers raise their expectations and provide students with access to complex texts and scaffolded instruction to justify their ideas and opinions. To ensure that students are prepared to meet these increased expectations, teachers have to plan new lessons that allow students to consolidate their understanding and apply what they have learned. This is a tall order for an individual teacher. But when teachers work in collaborative planning teams within a professional learning community to plan instruction and review student performance, creating new lessons is possible and enjoyable. (page 56)

Three Key Shifts in ELA/Literacy Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational Regular practice with complex text and its academic language Reminder of key shifts… Last year we spend a lot of time becoming aware of and gaining a deeper understanding of the key shifts. Since the standards represent a fundamental shift in what is expected of students, they also represent a significant shift in what must be taught and how it must be taught. Notes for facilitators. These can be used to further emphasize the purpose of our focus on the key shifts. For ELA there are 3 key instructional shifts identified by Achieve the Core. (Read each shift on slide) The shifts are a high-level summary of the biggest changes signified by the adoption of the CCSS. They represent the most significant shifts for curriculum materials, instruction, student learning, and thinking about assessment. Taken all together, they should lead to desired student outcomes. Communicate the shifts to everyone who will listen! Everyone working in your school and district should have a solid understanding of the shifts required in both ELA/Literacy and Mathematics. They are a great starting point for learning about and understanding the CCRS. You can test any message or effort regarding the CCRS against these touchstones. From state, district, school, or classroom – how does X support the ideas of the shifts. They are meant to be succinct and easy to remember.

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