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
Top Related