Chris Minnich, Executive DirectorCouncil of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

July 26, 2013

Common Core State Standards

Common Core State Standards

Bipartisan initiative of state leadersled by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and National Governors Association (NGA)developed K-12 standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics

College and Career Readiness: Anchor for the Common CoreGap between high school expectations for

students and what students are expected to do in college/career Among high school graduates, only half are

academically prepared for postsecondary education (Greene & Winters, 2005).

Career-readiness and college-readiness levels are very similar.

K-12 standards were back-mapped from college and career expectations.

Remediation rates and costs are staggering• As much as 40% of all students entering 4-year colleges

need remediation in one or more courses• As much as 63% in 2-year colleges

Degree attainment rates are disappointing• Fewer than 42% of adults aged 25-34 hold college

degrees

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Source: The College Completion Agenda 2010 Progress Report, The College Board

College Remediation and Graduation Rates

How the demand for skills has changedEconomy-wide measures of routine and non-routine task input (US)

(Levy and Murnane)

Mea

n ta

sk in

put a

s per

cent

iles o

f th

e 19

60 ta

sk d

istrib

utio

n

The dilemma of schools:The skills that are easiest to teach and test are also the ones that are easiest to digitise, automate and outsource

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Key Cognitive

Strategies

Key Learning Skills and Techniques

Problem FormulationResearchInterpretationCommunicationPrecision & Accuracy

Structure of KnowledgeChallenge Level

ValueAttribution

EffortKey Content Knowledge

think: know:

Ownership of LearningLearning Techniques

act:Postsecondary AwarenessPostsecondary CostsMatriculationCareer AwarenessRole and IdentitySelf-advocacy

go:Key

Transition Knowledge

and Skills

Source: Dr. David Conley, Educational Policy Improvement Center

College and Career Readiness

Why Common Standards?• Previously, every state had its own set of

academic standards and different expectations of student performance.

Consistency

• Common standards can help create more equal access to an excellent education.Equity

• Students need the knowledge and skills that will prepare them for college and career in our global economy.

Opportunity• Previous standards were “a mile wide and an

inch deep.” These new standards are clear and coherent in order to help students, parents, and teachers understand what is expected.

Clarity• Common standards create a foundation for

districts and states to work collaboratively and achieve economies of scale.

Economies of Scale

English Language Arts (ELA) Shifts

•Building knowledge through content-rich non-fiction and informational texts in addition to literature

Non-Fiction

•Reading and writing are grounded in evidence from the text

Evidence from the Text

•Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary (words like “synthesize” and “correspond”)

Complex Text & Academic Vocabulary

Math Shifts

• 2-4 concepts focused on deeply in each gradeFocus

• Concepts logically connected from one grade to the next and linked to other major topics within the grade

Coherence

•Fluency with arithmetic, application of knowledge to real world situations, and deep understanding of mathematical conceptsRigor

Implementing the Common CoreProfessional Development

Public Awareness

Curriculum & Instructional Materials

Common Core Implementatio

n

New Assessments

Two state-led assessment consortia Partnership for Readiness for College and

Career (PARCC) SMARTER Balanced

Federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grant of $350M +

New summative assessments used for accountability purposes in 2014-2015 school year

What will the new tests be like?

Computer-basedBeyond multiple choiceMeasure what matters for college

and career success Depth of understanding and higher-

order thinking skillsProvide precise, actionable

information

Based on the information in the text “Biography of Amelia Earhart,” write an essay that summarizes and explains the challenges Earhart faced throughout her life. Remember to use textual evidence to support your ideas.

PARCC: Grade 7 Reading and Writing Item

Smarter Balanced: Grade 11 Writing Item

PARCC Assessment Sample Item: Math Grade 3

PARCC Assessment Sample Item: Math Grade 3

Smarter Balanced: Math Grade 4

What are the Publishers’ Criteria?

• A set of four documents intended to guide the design, evaluation, and selection of new materials or revision of existing materials

ELA/Literacy K-2 and 3-11 Mathematics K-8 and Mathematics 9-12

• Available on www.corestandards.org and training materials available on www.achievethecore.org

• Released by CCSSO, NGA, Achieve, the Council of Great City Schools and NASBE

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What’s In and What’s Out?IN OUT

1. Daily encounters w/complex texts 1. Leveled texts (only)2. Texts worthy of close attention 2. Reading any ‘ol text3. Balance of literary and Info texts 3. Solely literature4. Coherent sequences of texts 4. Collection of unrelated texts5. Mostly text-dependent questions 5. Mostly text-to-self questions6. Evidence-based analyses 6. Personal opinions about

issues

7. Accent on academic vocabulary 7. Accent on literary terminology

8. Emphasis on reading & re-reading 8. Emphasis on pre-reading9. Reading strategies 9. Reading strategies10. Pre-mediation 10. (Just) Remediation

It all boils down to. . .

Texts Worth Reading and

Questions Worth Answering!

Some Old Ways of Doing Business – What’s Out• A different topic every day

• Every topic treated as equally important

• Elementary students dipping into advanced topics at the expense of mastering fundamentals

• Endless review

• Reliance on rote learning at expense of concepts

• Mnemonics or tricks

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Grade Priorities in Support of Rich Instruction and Expectations of Fluency and Conceptual Understanding

K–2 Addition and subtraction, measurement using whole number quantities

3–5 Multiplication and division of whole numbers and fractions

6 Ratios and proportional reasoning; early expressions and equations

7 Ratios and proportional reasoning; arithmetic of rational numbers

8 Linear algebra/linear functions

Major Work of Grade in K-8 Mathematics

Indicators of Quality

• Problems are worth doing• Teacher materials support teacher study• Use of manipulatives follows best practices• Materials are carefully reviewed (freedom from errors,

grade-level appropriateness, freedom from bias)• Visual design isn’t distracting or chaotic• Support for English language learners is thoughtful and

helps those learners to meet the same standards as all other students

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Questions and CommentsChris Minnich, Executive DirectorCouncil of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)chris.minnich@ccsso.org

www.ccsso.org/commoncore www.corestandards.org