Common Core State StandardsCCSS

What Parents & Board Members Need to Know

Perspective on Common Core State Standards

College and career readiness standards developed in summer 2009

Based on the college and career readiness standards, K-12 learning progressions developed

Multiple rounds of feedback from states, teachers, researchers, higher education, and the general public

Final Common Core Standards released on June 2, 2010

Key component of Race to the Top applications

The Importance of CCSS

Preparation: The standards articulate college-and-career-readiness. They will help ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in post-secondary education and training.

Competition: The standards are internationally benchmarked. Common standards will help ensure our students are globally competitive.

Clarity: The standards are focused, coherent, and clear. Clearer standards help students (and parents and teachers) understand what is expected of them.

What the Standards do NOT define:

How teachers should teachAll that can or should be taughtThe nature of advanced work beyond the coreThe interventions needed for students well

below grade levelThe full range of support for English language

learners and students with special needsEverything needed to be college and career

readyDefinition of college and career ready:

Ready for first-year credit-bearing,postsecondary coursework in mathematics and

English without the need for remediation.

English Language Arts

Readingo Combination of literature and informational

textso Text complexity increased

Writingo Emphasis on argument/informativeo Evidence-based writing

Speaking and Listeningo Inclusion of accountable talko Referencing discussion points made by

others

English Language Arts (2)

Languageo Focus on general academic and domain-

specific vocabularyo Emphasis on usage, less on rules

What’s different?Emphasis on research and using evidenceSpiral curriculum for mastery1O ELA anchor standards K-12

Mathematics

Understanding numbers and quantitiesAlgebraic thinkingLess quantity—deeper understanding Modeling—real life applicationsProofs, justification, masteryIncreased use of statistics and probabilityEmphasis on mathematical practice & real life

experiencesApproach

3 Integrated Math courses (formerly Algebra I, II, and Geometry)

One higher-level math course

Assessments

PARCC—Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career

SMARTER—Balanced Assessment Consortium

For NAD schools: Iowa Assessment (formerly ITBS)

Why CCSS?

90% of fastest growing jobs require at least 2 years of education beyond high school.

80% of all jobs require some training beyond high school.

10% is the percentage of increase in college graduates needed to meet job demand

What to do at home…Read the English-Language Arts standards and Math

standards at commoncore.orgAs your children complete homework, help them

hone in on the most important aspects and core concepts

When you read with your child, ask in-depth why and how questions

Build your child’s home library with high-quality informational text

Encourage your child to research a topic of interest using informational texts and original documents

Ask your child to explain or show you how she’s solving problems

Ask your child how someone might use what he’s working on in real life

Stay in contact with your child’s teacher

What to do at board meetings…

Read English-Language Arts standards and the Math standards at commoncore.org

Set clear and high expectations (students need to know and do)

Create conditions for success (PD for teachers, update technology)

Hold systems accountable (monthly success reports—teacher evaluations should reflect success level)

Create public will to succeed (short-term and long-term goals)

Learn together as a board (board training, partnerships, community discussions)

Caution:

Despite commonality of the CCSS, students still need to do the following:

-write across the curriculum-attend school regularly-read increasingly difficult material-read to build knowledge in all content areas-memorize times tables-explain formulas, rules, and procedures

Caution:

Despite commonality of the CCSS, teachers still need to do the following:

-individualize/differentiate instruction-find additional time for some students-enrich higher performing students-believe that all children will learn-select materials for instruction

Caution: Where is all this heading?

Despite the intentions of the government to align America’s students more closely to higher performing students in the world, there are concerns with the CCSS:

Expensive: technology, online testing, PDNot addressing childhood povertyStandards mean “like everybody else”What happens to innovationAmerica in lock-step formation