School Superintendents of Alabama Presentation by the

1. School Superintendents of Alabama Presentation by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Chris Minnich, Senior Membership Director June 12, 2011

2. Why do we need common standards? Why now? Disparate standards across states Today’s jobs require different skills Global competition For many young people, a high school degree isn’t preparing them for college or a good job.

3. Why is This Important for Students, Teachers, and Parents? Prepares students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and work Ensures consistent expectations regardless of a student’s zip code Provides educators, parents, and students with clear, focused guideposts Offers economies of scale

4. State-led Initiative • States led the development, adoption and will be leading the implementation work • The federal government did not develop the standards or require their adoption

5. Common Core State Standards • State-led and developed common core standards for K-12 in English/ language arts and mathematics • Standards define what students should know and be able to do at each grade and by the time they leave the K-12 system. • Standards are the starting point.

6. 42 states and D.C. have fully adopted the Common Core State Standards; 1 state has provisionally adopted the standards; and 1 state has adopted only the ELA standards.

7. Features of the Standards • Aligned with college and work expectations • Focused and coherent • Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills • Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards • Based on evidence and research • Internationally benchmarked • Should be read to allow the widest possible range of students to participate fully

8. Development Process • College- and career-readiness standards for English/language arts and mathematics developed summer of 2009. • Based on the college and career readiness standards, K-12 learning progressions developed. • Multiple rounds of feedback from states, teachers, researchers, higher education, business, and the general public. • Final standards released on June 2, 2010.

9. College- and Career-Ready Aligned with college and work expectations • Prepare students for success in entry-level, credit-bearing, academic college courses (2- and 4- year postsecondary institutions) • Prepare students for success in careers that offer competitive, livable salaries above the poverty line, opportunities for career advancement, and are in growing or sustainable industries

10. Intentional design limitations The standards do NOT define: • How teachers should teach. • All that can or should be taught. • The nature of advanced work beyond the core. • The interventions needed for students well below grade level. • The full range of support for English learners and students with special needs. • Everything needed for students to be college and career ready.

11. STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS (ELA) & LITERACY IN HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS

12. Design and Organization Introduction Description of capacities of a literate student (ex., demonstrate independence, come to understand other perspectives and cultures) Three main sections K−5 (cross-disciplinary) 6−12 English Language Arts 6−12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Three appendices A: Research and evidence; glossary of key terms B: Reading text exemplars; sample performance tasks C: Annotated student writing samples

13. "Habits of mind" fostered by the Common Core State Standards In developing knowledge and skills in English/language arts, learners: • Demonstrate independence. • Build strong content knowledge. • Respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline. • Comprehend as well as critique. • Value evidence. • Use technology and digital media strategically and capably. • Come to understand other perspectives and cultures.

14. Design and Organization Four strands Reading Writing Speaking and Listening Language An integrated model of literacy Media requirements blended throughout

15. ELA Key Advances Reading • Balance of literature and informational texts • Text complexity Writing • Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing • Writing about sources Standards for reading and writing in history/ social studies, science, and technical subjects • Complement rather than replace content standards in those subjects • Responsibility of teachers in those subjects

16. MATHEMATICS STANDARDS

17. Design and Organization Standards for Mathematical Practice Carry across all grade levels Describe habits of mind of a mathematically expert student Standards for Mathematical Content K-8 standards presented by grade level High school standards presented by conceptual theme Appendix Designing high school math courses based on the Common Core State Standards

18. "Habits of mind" fostered by the Common Core State Standards In developing knowledge and skills in mathematics, learners: • Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. • Reason abstractly and quantitatively. • Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. • Model with mathematics. • Use appropriate tools strategically. • Attend to precision. • Look for and make use of structure. • Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

19. Math Key Advances Focus in early grades on number (arithmetic and operations) to build a solid foundation in math Evened out pace across the grades High school math focus on using math and solving complex problems, similar to what would see in the real world Problem-solving and communication emphasized

20. State Adoption • The process for adoption varies. State boards are responsible for standards adoption decisions in the majority of states. In others, the state legislature or other stakeholders are involved. • Process typically includes opportunities for public inputand a review of the Common Core in relation to current state standards and assessments. • Opportunity to add 15 percent

21. Implementation: State Survey • Most frequently cited concerns by state deputies: • Funding for high-quality professional development • Acquisition of materials and resources aligned to the Common Core • Assessment and the transitional period when standards may not be aligned to assessments in use • Implications this may have on AYP, reporting to stakeholders, evaluations.

22. Implementation • CCSSO and NGA are committed to implementation of the Common Core. • Role in implementation: • Enhancing states’ efficiency and effectiveness through sharing across states and collaboration. • Discovering, highlighting, and putting best practices and systems-thinking into widespread use. • Facilitating collaborative state implementation efforts. • Making sense of the flurry of activities and chatter on Common Core implementation.

23. NGA & CCSSO Implementation Efforts Supporting states' implementation efforts (e.g., forums, partners meetings) Future governance Implementation guide for governors CCSSO’s long-standing State Collaboratives on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS) Communications toolkit for implementation of the Common Core Building deeper understanding of the standards AASCU, SHEEO, CCSSO partnership State leadership and advocacy for next-generation accountability

24. Implications for Teaching Greater focus on depth of knowledge, mastery, and application to new situations. Key challenge: develop educator understanding of level of student performance expected in the new standards and pedagogy to teach the standards in an integrated manner. (Each standards should not be taught in isolation.) Teachers in most states will start teaching to the Common Core State Standards in 2012-2013 or 2013-2014 school year.

25. www.corestandards.org

26. Chris Minnich, CCSSO chrism@ccsso.org