EA/EI Regional Catholic Partnership

1. EA/EI Regional Catholic Partnership WELCOME Parents, Pizza, and Progress April 2013

2. Common Core What is it? Why are we hearing about it? How will it affect us?

3. What is it?video

4. Common Core - What is it? • CCSS = Common Core State Standards • Standards = structure/framework of international benchmarks used by educators to ensure their students have skills and knowledge needed to compete with their peers in the U.S. and abroad • They were developed by the NGA (National Governors Association) and the CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers) beginning in 2007. • So far, 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core standards. Those states independently began adopting in 2010.

5. … more about the CCSS • The CCSS were written by building on the best and highest state standards in existence in the U.S. • They are evidence-based and aligned with college and career expectations. • The CCSS include rigorous content and skills. • They were developed in consultation with curriculum experts and parents from across the country; so, they are realistic and practical.

6. Didn’t we already have State Standards? • The CCSS enable collaboration between the states. • They ensure that all students, no matter where they live, are well-prepared. • They are focused on Language Arts and Math, K-12th grades.

7. So, what are the CCSS? • The Common Core State Standards are a clear set of shared goals and expectations for the knowledge and skills students need in Language Arts and mathematics at each grade level to ultimately be prepared to graduate from high school ready for college and/or a career.

8. Why did we need CCSS? • In 2009, U.S. high school students ranked ninth, falling behind other nations, for college and career readiness performance benchmarks in math. • Future workforce projections indicated on-going shortages, especially in high growth career fields. • By 2018, 63% of U.S. jobs will require a college degree. • Recent studies showed that by the 12th grade, only 17% of American students were math proficient and interested in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) career.

9. …bringing it closer to home Percent of national ACT-tested high school graduates meeting college readiness benchmarks in 2012 67 52 46 31 25 100 80 60 40 20 EnglishReading Math Science all 4 subjects

10. Career Ready? • If learning styles are not adjusted, will the students of today be ready for their world of tomorrow? I Choose “C” “Knowing is not understanding. There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: You can know a lot about something and not really understand it.” . . . Charles Kettering

11. What do our students need to be successful in THEIR world? • High capacity for abstract, conceptual thinking • Ability to apply this thinking to real-world problems • Ability to function in an environment where communication skills are vital • Ability to work easily and well with others to resolve conflict and to work without supervision • Draw useful inferences, make connections among facts, and explain their conclusions in writing with evidence

12. Learning Outcomes desired by Employers Learning Outcomes Concepts/developments in science/technology Ability to analyze/solve complex problems Ability to apply knowledge/skills to real-world settings Critical thinking/analytical reasoning Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing 0 20 40 60 80 100 % Employers who agree

13. What about assessments? • Assessments will be aligned to the CCSS and will replace existing assessments. • They will be available in the 2014-15 school year.

14. How will all of this affect us? • Assessments will become more rigorous. • The framework will be: Depth, Rigor, & Relevance • Teaching and learning styles will need to be adjusted. • Focus will not only be on procedural skills, but also on conceptual understanding. • It’s about quality more than quantity. Coherence is needed so that we teach mastery rather than re-teaching year after year.

15. Really…what will this mean for us? • Student-centered learning • Less workbook pages • Less study guides that resemble the test • More technology • Engaging lessons – more small groups, more collaborative sharing, hands-on activities “I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to create the condition for learning.” . . . Albert Einstein

16. What should learning look like? rigorous collaborative relationships engaging relevance

17. More is learned if the student perceives the content as relevant. • More learning is retained if the learning is by discovery. • Understanding gives meaning to knowledge. • Skills learned in isolation remain in isolation.

18. Language Arts • All disciplines are grounded in literacy, making literacy standards the foundation for all subjects: math, science, social studies, etc. • Students need to conquer more - substantially more - non-fiction. • It is vital to use textual evidence to support both reading and writing.

19. Mathematics • All roads lead to algebra. • Focus on fewer skills each year, but with greater depth. Fewer concepts early with greater mastery make algebra more accessible. • The greatest predictor of algebraic agility is one’s ability to understand fractions.

20. All this happens overnight, right? • This will take years to unfold. It began in 2007. • It will take time and collaboration among teachers, students, and parents. • Improvement is ever-changing. • Keep the focus on learning for the world in which your students will live in … the future.

21. What is in their future?

22. We want to assure you that the implementation of the CCSS will not interfere with our Catholic identity. • There are Common Core Standards geared to Catholic Identity that we will be adopting as well. • We are different because we are Catholic.

23. We need your support. Working in partnership, we will prepare our young ones for their future.

24. Thank you sincerely for being here tonight.