College and Career Readiness Standards and You A Quick Guide for Middle School Parents

Why College and Career Readiness? “Academic standards are important because they help ensure that all students, no matter where they live, are prepared for success in college and the workforce. They help set clear and consistent expectations for students, parents, and teachers; build your child’s knowledge and skills; and help set high goals for all students.”

What is College and Career Readiness? Ability to solve real world problems Able to get a job and gain on the job training skills necessary to be successful Confidence to handle collegiate demands and motivated to pursue excellence Skills, knowledge and ability to be an integral part of society and their community.

Changes to Expect in the Classroom Productive struggles for a solution – Don’t give your child the answer. Have them come to the solution on their own. Experience higher level of academic vocabulary More constructed responses in all content areas

How Parents and the Community Can Help? Use more informational text with your child – Essays, speeches, directions, manuals, newspaper and Internet articles Use literary sources with appropriate Lexile levels Give your child real world examples in mathematics – Budget, money, time, travel distance, grocery shopping

How Parents and the Community Can Help? Incorporate more technology Encourage children to solve multi-step problems or tasks Expect your child to give multiple ways to solve a problem Include your child in conversations to improve vocabulary and speaking/listening skills

The New Assessment Computer Based Using more technological skills Multi-step questions Compare and contrast multiple sources at one time Cite evidence throughout a writing piece 70% of the assessment questions in ELA will come from science, social studies, and the technical subjects

We want you to think of the College and Career Readiness and the Common Core State Standards as the physical exam and not the autopsy.