The Department of Juvenile Justice Language Arts Consortium Forsyth Georgia January 20, 2011

COMMON CORE State Standards Initiative The Common Core State Standards Initiative was a significant and historic opportunity for Georgia and 47 other states to collectively develop and adopt a core set of academic standards in mathematics and English Language Arts The common core state standards were released on June 2. Like the GPS the common core state standards provide a consistent framework to prepare students for success in college and the 21st century ,

What do they mean for Georgia? Students of Georgia: Provides knowledge aligned with college and work expectations Internationally benched marked Includes rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order thinking skills Because the CCSS were developed based on the expectations of colleges and multi career industries across 48 states student will be prepared for college whether they decide to attend Georgia Tech or UCLA or find a job ib Georgia, Maine or India

What do they mean for Georgia? Conti. Educators of Georgia Shared owner ship for all stakeholders Aligned to the Georgia Performance Standards Clear, focused expectations that assist them in being on the same page and working together with students and parents for shared goals A common-sense next step that is aligned to our Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) rather than completely changing the direction of the state standards without giving them a chance to work Georgia is actually building upon what we have the GPS to maximize students learning. Give example of QCC TO GPS.

About the Common Core State Standards Based on evidence and research Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards State led During the summer of 2009 the college and career readiness standards were developed by a group of National Governors Association and Chief State School Officers members and based on the college and career readiness standards the k-12 learning progression was developed. At this point multi rounds of feed back from states, teachers, researchers, and the general public. The common core state standards were then released on June 2

Why did Georgia adopt the CCSS? Meaningful comparison of our students’ achievement with students in other states Prepare our students to compete in the global workforce Better purchasing power from textbook vendors Currently, every state has its own set of academic standards, meaning public education students in each state are learning to different levels. Therefore, it is impossible to accurately compare data nationally. However, with CCSS we will actually compare apples to apples because the CCSS will be the same from state to state. All students must be prepared to compete with not only their peers in their states but with peers in the next state as well., Because participating states will have a consistent curriculum textbooks and other instructional resources will be developed based on one set of standards. There will no longer be a need for a Georgia edition and a Texas edition. Therefore, requiring less production staff or writers ;thereby driving down the price to publish and print multi versions of the same textbook.

How was Georgia involved in the creation of the CCSS? Georgia teachers and other experts in standards have been at the table since the process began. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is state-led - launched over a year ago by state leaders through their membership in the CCSSO and the NGA Center. When the expert development groups that the CCSSO and NGA pulled together began writing the standards in mathematics and English language arts, they built off of the work of states that had already developed rigorous college- and career-ready standards. Georgia was one of the states, and when reading the CCSS, one can see elements of the GPS throughout.

Will there be a huge change for Georgia’s teachers or students? While adopting the CCSS in Georgia will be a step forward, giving our teachers more refined tools to better prepare our young people for work and college, it will not be a drastic change for either our teachers or our students. Some of the standards are introduced at different grade levels, but teachers have, essentially, been implementing the CCSS while they’ve been teaching the GPS.

Was the CCSS created by the Federal government? No. The Common Core is a state-led initiative - launched over a year ago by state leaders through their membership in the CCSSO and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center).

Do the CCSS amount to a national curriculum for our schools? No. 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. Georgia 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.

What does this mean for curriculum? In the simplest terms, standards set the goals for what students should know and be able to do by the time they complete a grade level and then ultimately graduate from high school. Curriculum, on the other hand, guides how a teacher teaches to help students achieve the goals/standards. Since 2004, we have been overhauling our state’s curriculum. The new curriculum is the product of a lot of hard work by classroom teachers, parents, businesses and curriculum experts. And our award-winning curriculum is nearing full implementation with great results. We will not be abandoning our curriculum.

Will the CCSS tell teachers what to teach? No. 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.

Common Core State Standards Timeline June 2, 2010 Common Core State Standards released July 8, 2010 Action Item for State Board of Education adoption of Common Core July - August 2010 Common Core communication to school systems 2010 - 2011 School Year Resource alignment and training 2011 - 2012 School Year Common Core implementation