Superintendents As Leaders of Transformation Transitioning to Alabama’s College and Career Ready Standards

Executive Summary RIGOR RISK: The new Alabama College and Career Standards will be a MAJOR increase in academic rigor. JOBS IN ALABAMA: The new standards will increase Alabama’s economic attractiveness to employers seeking a skilled and educated workforce and keep the state ahead of global competitors. Leading Transformation: The first step in leading transformation is the development of a College and Career Readiness communication plan. Support from Scholastic: We have over 20 years of experience helping districts successfully increase academic rigor. We are providing needs assessment checklists to assist in your plan development. Call to Action: The College and Career Standards movement in Alabama is underway. Now is the time to lead the transformation in your district.

Rigor Risk Alabama’s College and Career Standards

These new standards are designed to be relevant in the real work, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in both college and career. When American students have the skills and knowledge needed in today’s job market, our communities will be strong and competitive in the global economy. The standards incorporate the best and highest of previous state standards in the U. S. and are internationally benchmarked to the top performing nations around the world. Source: Alabama State Department of Education: Facts About College and Career Standards

College and Career Standards Crite ria Rigorous Clear and specific Teachable and learnable Measurable Coherent Grade by grade standards Internationally benchmarked

Reading Rigor Risk NAEP scale equivalents of state grade 8 reading standards for proficient performance, by state: 2009

2011 ARMT and NAEP Data NAEP proficiency is designed to be reading on grade level. If a Next Generation Assessment measures on grade level reading, then districts could see substantial increases in the number of students needing reading intervention treatment.

Rigor Risk What are your real rigor risks ? How will the rigor risk impact your District’s progress to achieving the College and Career Standards? How will you know if your district is… On target to meet or exceed the College and Career Standards? What is your plan to conduct a rigor risk needs assessment of student achievement and instruction?

Jobs in Alabama Alabama and Global Competitiveness

Global Economic Changes The global economy is changing the nature of opportunity in America – Jobs that pay a family supporting wage requires education beyond high school – Workers need to know more, to be able to apply knowledge to complex issues and problems. – College and Careers require the same rigorous and broad core disciplines – Source: Measures that Matter: Making College and Career Readiness the Mission for High Schools A Guide for State Policy Makers (2008)

Skilled Workforce

Skills Mismatch Of the U.S. employers surveyed in ManPower Group’s 2011 Talent Shortage Survey, 52% reported difficulties in finding the right talent, up from 14% in This is the highest U.S percentage reported in the annual survey’s six –year history. With unemployment remaining high, there is an over-supply of available workers but an under-supply of skilled talent. Source: ManPower Group. (2011) Talent Shortage Survey

Are Students Prepared for College and Career?

Are Students on The Trajectory for Careers?

Global Job Competition Alabama’s workforce must be globally competitive to retain and expand jobs. The PISA data shows the global competitiveness of American students.

PISA Shanghai-China556 2 Korea539 3 Finland536 4 Hong Kong-China533 5 Singapore526 6 Canada524 7 New Zealand521 8 Japan520 9 Australia Netherlands United States Germany Ireland France United Kingdom Spain Russian Federation Mexico Brazil Indonesia402 Overall Reading Scale Significantly Above OECD Average Not Significantly Different (OECD Average 493) Significantly below OECD Average

PISA 2009 Overall Math Scale Significantly Above OECD Average Not Significantly Different (OECD Average 496) Significantly below OECD Average 1 Shanghai-China600 2 Singapore562 3 Hong Kong-China555 4 Korea546 6 Finland541 9 Japan Canada Netherlands New Zealand Australia Germany France United Kingdom United States Ireland Spain Russian Federation Mexico Brazil Indonesia371

PISA 2009 Overall Science Scale Significantly Above OECD Average Not Significantly Different (OECD Average 501) Significantly below OECD Average 1 Shanghai-China575 2 Finland554 3 Hong Kong-China549 4 Singapore542 5 Japan539 6 Korea538 7 New Zealand532 8 Canada Australia Netherlands Germany United Kingdom Ireland United States France Spain Russian Federation Mexico Brazil Indonesia383

College Completion Growth Competition Source: Brookings

Leading the Transformation Start by Developing a College and Career Ready Communication Plan

Communication Plan Roadmap Conduct a needs assessment to measure your rigor risk in student achievement and professional learning. Work with stakeholders to develop a Career and College Readiness improvement plan. Start implementing the plan before the new state tests are administered.

Needs Assessment Students: What’s your rigor risk? How many students will need reading and/or math intervention? Professional Staff: How prepared is your staff for this increase in instructional rigor? Support: How will you support and sustain the changes? Resources: What resources will you need? Progress: How will you know you are making progress towards the College and Career Readiness goals?

Career and College Readiness Improvement Plan How have you involved the following stakeholders? Students Parents The School Board Community What will your improvement plan include??

"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." -Henry Ford

Support from Scholastic Needs Assessment Checklist

Needs Assessment Checklists Standards Alignment Design for Rigor and Relevance Learning Environment Personalization Literacy Math Student Progress and Celebration Technology

Using the Checklist 1. Standards Alignment Checklist Exceeding Meeting Developing Beginning Absent

Collecting the Data School District: Superintendent: Please return to Eric Mackey no later than July 20, 2012

Please Remember “When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: Those who let it happen, Those who make it happen, and Those who wonder what happened.” John M. Richardson

Scholastic Contacts Duck Cunningham, Alabama Account Executive Brian Rhodes, Southeast Regional Director Karen Burke, Director Academic Planning Tracy Weeden, Director Academic Planning Larry Holland, Special Consultant to the Chairman