EngageNY.org

Teaching the Hudson Valley: Uncommon Approaches to the

Common Core

August 1st, 2013

For every 100 ninth graders…

65 graduate from high school37 enter college

24 are still enrolled in sophomore year12 graduate with a degree in six years

Why does this matter? Because it’s what our students need

Conley, David. 2012, “The Complexities of College and Career Readiness.” https://epiconline.org/files/pdf/07102012_Keene_NH.pdf

… and only 6 get a good job after graduation

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Conley, David. 2012, “The Complexities of College and Career Readiness.” https://epiconline.org/files/pdf/07102012_Keene_NH.pdf

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Our Common Purpose and Resolve

* 2007 cohort, four-year outcomes through JuneSource: NYSED Office of Information and Reporting Services

New York State Graduation Rates*

74%

85%

58% 58%

35%

48%

12% 15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

All White Black Hispanic

Student Subgroup

Gra

duat

ion

Rat

e

Graduation Rate

ELA/Math Aspirational PerformanceMeasure (APM)

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Regents Reform AgendaA Strategic Response to the Program Challenges

College and 

Career Ready 

Students

Highly EffectiveSchool Leaders

Highly Effective Teachers

Implementing Common Core standards and developing curriculum and assessments aligned to these standards to prepare students for success in college and the workplace

Building instructional data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practice in real time

Recruiting, developing, retaining, and rewarding effective teachers and principals

Turning around the lowest-achieving schools

These Standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the next step. … It is time to recognize that standards are not just promises to our children, but promises we intend to keep.

CCSSM, p. 5

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6 Shifts in ELA/Literacy

Balancing Informational and Literary TextBuilding Knowledge in the DisciplinesStaircase of ComplexityText-based AnswersWriting from SourcesAcademic Vocabulary

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Instructional Shifts Demanded by the Core

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ELA/Literacy Shift 1: Balancing Informational and Literary Text

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Build content knowledge

Learn about the world through reading

Apply strategies

Balance informational & literary text

Scaffold for informational texts

Teach “through” and “with” informational texts

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 1

ELA/Literacy Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Build content knowledge through

text

Handle primary source documents

Find evidence

Shift identity: “I teach reading.”

Stop referring and summarizing and start reading

Slow down the history and science classroom

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 2

ELA/Literacy Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Re-read

Read material at own level to enjoy

Tolerate frustration

More complex texts at every grade level

Give students less to read, let them re- read

More time on more complex texts

Provide scaffolding & strategies

Engage with texts w/ other adults

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 3

ELA/Literacy Shift 4: Text Based Answers

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

Find evidence to support their argument

Form own judgments and become scholars

Conducting reading as a close reading of the text

Engage with the author and his/her choices

Facilitate evidence based conversations about text

Plan and conduct rich conversations

Keep students in the text

Identify questions that are text-dependent, worth asking/exploring, deliver richly

Spend much more time preparing for instruction by reading deeply.

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 4

ELA/Literacy Shift 5: Writing from Sources

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Generate informational texts

Make arguments using evidence

Organize for persuasion

Compare multiple sources

Spending much less time on personal narratives

Present opportunities to write from multiple sources

Give opportunities to analyze, synthesize ideas

Develop students’ voice so that they can argue a point with evidence

Give permission to reach and articulate their own conclusions about what they read

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 5

ELA/Literacy Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Use high octane words across content

areas

Build “language of power” database

Develop students’ ability to use and access words

Sequence texts so that students encounter high-octane words within a particular domain over and over in increasingly complex contexts

Be strategic about the new vocab words

Work with words students will use frequently

Teach fewer words more deeply

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 6

Mathematics Shift 1: FocusWhat the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Spend more time on fewer

conceptsExcise content from the

curriculum

Focus instructional time on priority concepts

Give students the gift of time

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 1

Mathematics Shift 2: Coherence

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Build on knowledge from year to year, in a coherent learning progression

Connect the threads of math focus areas across grade levels

Connect to the way content was taught the year before and the years after

Focus on priority progressions

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 2

Mathematics Shift 3: Rigor -

Fluency

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

Spend time practicing, with intensity, skills (in high volume)

Push students to know basic skills at a greater level of fluency

Focus on the listed fluencies by grade level

Uses high quality problem sets, in high volume

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 3

Mathematics Shift 4: Rigor -

Deep Understanding

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

Show mastery of material at a deep level

Articulate mathematical reasoning

Demonstrate deep conceptual understanding of priority concepts

Create opportunities for students to understand the “answer” from a variety of access points

Ensure that EVERY student GETS IT before moving on

Get smarter in concepts being taught

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 4

Mathematics Shift 5: Rigor-

Application

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

Apply math in other content areas and situations, as relevant

Choose the right math concept to solve a problem when not necessarily prompted to do so

Apply math including areas where its not directly required (i.e. in science)

Provide students with real world experiences and opportunities to apply what they have learned

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 5

Mathematics Shift 6: Rigor -

Dual Intensity

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…Practice math skills with an intensity that results in fluency

Practice math concepts with an intensity that forces application in novel situations

Find the dual intensity between understanding and practice within different periods or different units

Be ambitious in demands for fluency and practice, as well as the range of application

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Uncommon Approaches to Shift 6

Common Core State Standards for ELA & Literacy in History/SocialStudies, Science, and Technical

Subjects-10 Reading Standards- 10 Writing Standards

Common Core State Standards for Literacy in Technical Subjects

Purpose for CC Literacy Standards in

Technical Subjects

Every teacher is responsible to support and instruct students in reading informational

text within each of their own content areas.

Common Core State Standards for Literacy in Technical Subjects

Common Core Literacy Standards are used in coordination with each

content area’s NYS Learning Standards

Steps for Implementing Common Core Literacy Standards

10 Reading &10 Writing

Standards for Technical Subjects

•Identify existing connections

•Modify lessons to incorporate •literacy standards

The National Arts Standards Revisionhttp://nccas.wikispaces.com/

The revised National Arts Standards will:• extend PK -12• be grade-by-grade from PK-8 in each arts discipline and include:

Media Arts as a discreet fifth arts discipline.Cornerstone Assessment models: authentic performance assessments

organized to include all aspects of the learning and instructional process, including student work samples.

The first draft Prek-8 was released in spring for public review and comment with PreK - 12 draft standards due to be released in Jan.

Final revised arts standards will be issued in March, 2014.

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6 Shifts in ELA/Literacy

Balancing Informational and Literary TextBuilding Knowledge in the DisciplinesStaircase of ComplexityText-based AnswersWriting from SourcesAcademic Vocabulary

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Instructional Shifts Demanded by the Core

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Six Shifts in ELA/Literacy & Math: What Do They Means in the Visual Art Classroom?

The Shifts in the visual arts are understood with the following premise:

Visual Art is a form of communication. The primary definition of “Text” in visual art is imagery in its most inclusive form (the art itself).

Just as in other forms of communication, “Text” in art is layered, metaphoric, symbolic, and open to interpretation. Therefore, when referring to imagery as “Text” in Visual Art, we will use the term, Art (text). When referring to “Text” as the written word, we will use the term, “Text.”

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Shift 4

Text-

Based Answers

Students have rich and rigorous conversations, which are dependent on a common text. Teachers insist that classroom experiences stay deeply connected to the text on the page and that students develop habits for making evidentiary arguments both in

conversation, as well as in writing to assess comprehension of a

text.

Students will analyze Art (text), including their own art, using a variety of perspectives: Historic, Contemporary, Pluralism, etc.

Teachers will guide students to write, discuss, and make art in response to primary and secondary sources: Art (text) and text.

Shift 5

Writing from Sources

Writing needs to emphasize use of evidence to inform or make an argument rather than the personal narrative and other forms of decontextualized prompts. While the narrative still has an important role, students develop skills through written arguments that respond to the ideas, events, facts, and arguments presented in the texts they read.

Students will discover connections to ideas about the world by creating Art (text), writing, and discussing primary and secondary sources.

Shift 6

Academic Vocabular

y

Students constantly build the vocabulary they need to access grade level complex texts. By focusing strategically on comprehension of pivotal and commonly found words (such as “discourse,” “generation,” “theory,” and “principled”) and less on esoteric literary terms (such as “onomatopoeia” or “homonym”), teachers constantly build students’ ability to access more complex texts across the content areas.

Students will learn and employ the language andvocabulary of the Visual Art domain in response to Art (text) and text. Language in the Visual Arts is not fixed—it changes along with the developments in Visual Art.

Six Shifts in ELA/Literacy What it Means in Visual Art

Shift 4 Deep Understandi

ng

Teachers teach more than “how to get the answer” and instead support students’ ability to access concepts from a number of perspectives so that students are able to see math as more than a set of mnemonics or discrete procedures. Students demonstrate deep conceptual understanding of core math concepts by applying them to new situations. As well as writing and speaking about their understanding.

Teachers will guide students’ inquiry into how mathematical thinking is used to convey ideas about the world when aesthetics are combined with function (e.g. illusion of depth, gradation of value, weight, and structure). Students will demonstrate understanding by synthesizing information to create Art (text).Students will engage in mathematical thinking to analyze and discuss visual perception in Art (text), (e.g. Cubism, Pointillism, peripheral vision, optical, and medial color systems).

Shift 5 Applications Students are expected to use math and choose the appropriate concept for application even when they are not prompted to do so. Teachers provide opportunities at all grade levels for students to apply math concepts in “real world” situations. Teachers in content areas outside of math, particularly science, ensure that students are using math – at all grade levels – to make meaning of and access content.

Students will employ mathematical thinking and skills in creating Art (text) when utilizing media and materials in the creation of meaningful and personally significant Art (text), (e.g. digital imaging, time-based media, and traditional media).

Shift 6 Dual Intensity

Students are practicing and understanding. There is more than a balance between these two things in the classroom – both are occurring with intensity. Teachers create opportunities for students to participate in “drills” and make use of those skills through extended application of math concepts. The amount of time and energy spent practicing and understanding learning environments is driven by the specific mathematical concept and therefore, varies throughout the given school year.

Students will practice mathematical skills and thinking on practical and conceptual levels within the Visual Art Curriculum—a natural extension and application of concepts introduced in the math classroom.Teachers will provide opportunities for exercises in technique, analysis of the creative process, as well as the evaluation of the products (synthesis) of the creative process, (portfolio).

Six Shifts in Math What It Means in Visual Art

NYS Curriculum• Exemplary, Comprehensive, Optional, Free • High Quality, Rigorous, Deeply Aligned to CCSS• Addresses Needs of Students Performing Above &

Below Grade Level, Students with Disabilities, English Language Learners

• Includes Performance Tasks and other assessments which measure student growth – daily, weekly, at the end of each unit & module

• Ensures Diversity of Voices & Perspectives in Text Selection

• Contains notes for teachers, templates, handouts, homework, problem sets, overviews, etc

• Creative Commons License Approach

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P-12 Mathematics

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NYSED is partnering withCommon Core, Incto develop high quality, rigorous, and aligned materials in P-12 mathematics that progress across the school year and across the grades.

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Curriculum Modules: P-2 ELANYSED is partnering with Core Knowledge

Phased implementation:

Year 1:• Listening and Learning modules• Ongoing professional development with educators

Year 2:• Student skills development modules• Ongoing professional development with educators

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Curriculum Modules ELA

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We are partneringNYSED is partnering with Expeditionary Learning to develop comprehensive materials in Grades 3-5 that progress across the school year and across the grades.

NYSED is partnering with Public Consulting Group to develop comprehensive materials in Grades 6-12 that are aligned with those in Grades 3-5.

Curricular Support: 6-12 ELA

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NYSED has partnered with Odell Education to publish a series of exemplary units for use in secondary English language arts classrooms.

These units model at each grade level: text selection, increasing complexity, supports for evidence-based conversations, and rigorous writing.

Comprehensive curricular modules are coming by July!

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What’s New:

Revised navigational choices on the homepageUpgraded search experience

New tagging, search and filter functionality

E-Community for the field to engage, interact and share

Table Talk: What Will it Take?

• What does this look like in classrooms? At home? At museums and outdoor sites?

• What are your challenges with implementing the Common Core, and how can your colleagues in schools and cultural institutions help?

• What Uncommon Approaches do you think you will adopt?

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Thank You!

Liz Hood, Director, Office of Educational Television & Public Broadcasting lhood@mail.nysed.gov

Leslie Yolen, Associate in Arts lyolen@mail.nysed.gov

Erik Sweet, English Language Arts Associate esweet@mail.nysed.gov