T he Common Core + ? = Deeper Learning and CCR?: Three Key Skill Sets to Pay Attention To

1. The Common Core + ? = Deeper Learning and CCR?: Three Key Skill Sets to Pay Attention To Dr. Karin Hess Senior Associate Center for Assessment karinhessvt@gmail.com www.karin-hess.com

2. Ready for College?Meeting the CC Standards and Beyond through Deeper, Student-Centered Learning Hess & Gong (2013) http://www.nmefoundation.org/resources/scl-2/ready-for-college-and-career“cliff notes” version:http://www.districtadministration.com/article/one-pathway-college-and-career

3. Turn & Talk…Think about the knowledge & skills that best prepared you for college, post-secondary training, work, or life after high school?

4. My focus today… Findings based on a review of the CCR research & SCL practices • What CAN the Common Core do to prepare students for college & careers if and when fully implemented by skilled educators? • What is “beyond” the Common Core in terms of college and career readiness? • How can student-centered learning practices support both deeper learning & college and career readiness?

5. (Hess & Gong, 2013, p.1) “… we posit that there are multiple pathways, different approaches, and perhaps a broader set of standards and skills beyond those articulated in the Common Core that are needed to truly prepare students for college or careers. The academic content standards themselves do not ensure that all students will graduate from high school ready for college and career without having additional (individual and system) supports in place.”

6. What CAN the Common Core do to prepare students for college & careers? • Limited content areas • CCSS “Instructional shifts” • Other “cross-cutting skills & dispositions” – What’s explicit? What’s onlyimplied in the Common Core?

7. ELA CCSS “Instructional Shifts”

8. Mathematics CCSS “Instructional Shifts”

9. (Hess & Gong, 2014) Simply teaching the standards and addressing the Common Core “shifts” will not be enough, because this approach focuses on what content to teach, but not on how to support student learning-- shifts in how curriculum & the learning environment are organized-- shifts in the roles of students and teachers in the learning process -- shifts in what assessments must measure

10. A broader CCR framework Three broad types of knowledge, skills, & aptitudes = CCR Academic Learning & taking action Intra-personal Interpersonal

11. Our research synthesis What is “beyond” the Common Core in terms of College & Career Readiness? • What other skills and dispositions are strong indicators of students being on track for future success in college or careers and can support the intended learning described in the Common Core State Standards? • What additional skills and dispositions are necessary for deeper learning that will be required by college or future careers?

12. Think about the knowledge & skills that best prepared you for college, post-secondary training, work, or life after high school? Were they… • Academic? • Interpersonal? • Intrapersonal?

13. [Blue text=explicit in CC]

14. 3 Interrelated CCR skill sets Integrating Academic & Cross-Cutting Skills in Cognitively Demanding Learning Tasks (all content areas) Providing Opportunities to Initiate, Sustain, Extend, & Deepen Learning • CCR Skill Set #1 • CCR Skill Set #3 • CCR Skill Set #2 Supporting the Ability to Develop Independence as a Learner

15. 3 Interrelated CCR skill sets Providing Opportunities to Initiate, Sustain, Extend, & Deepen Learning Integrating Academic & Cross-Cutting Skills in Cognitively Demanding Learning Tasks • CCR Skill Set #3: • -- Transfer & construction of new knowledge • -- Disciplined inquiry, elaborated communication • -- Creativity, innovation, creative-productive thinking • CCR Skill Set #1: • -- Communication: precision and accuracy of discipline-specific language and thought • -- Critical thinking, abstract reasoning, and problem solving • CCR Skill Set #2: • -- Targeted/contextualized study and organizational skills • -- Metacognition (self-awareness, self-monitoring, self-control) • -- Academic perseverance/grit; intrinsic motivation to reach learning goals Supporting the Ability to Develop Independence as a Learner

16. Deconstructing Skill Set #1 Integrating Academic & Cross-Cutting Skills in Cognitively Demanding Learning Tasks • Communication: precision and accuracy of discipline-specific language and thought (DOK 1 & 2) • Apply domain-specific & technical language in context • Recognize what information & structures are needed • Critical thinking, abstract reasoning, and problem solving (DOK 3 & 4) • Look for schemas/big ideas (e.g., taking a genre apart); build expertise in a discipline (novice to expert) • Detect incompleteness, inconsistency, and opportunities for expansion of ideas, products, procedures • Formulate core questions, explore strategies & approaches, justify choices & decisions • Transfer what’s known to non-routine situations

17. Deconstructing Skill Set #2 Supporting the Ability to Develop Independence as a Learner • Targeted/contextualized study and organizational skills (DOK 2) • Break down tasks, set goals/timelines • Seek out relevant resources (e.g., mentors, peers) • Metacognition (self-awareness, self-monitoring, self-control) (DOK 3) • Review past activity – what worked? What didn’t? • Monitor progress against benchmarks • Learn from missteps, new/unexpected insights • Academic perseverance/grit; intrinsic motivation to reach learning goals (builds over time) • See progress as a continuum & possibility; believe you can improve (e.g., “I can change my brain capacity & expertise.” A. Duckworth)

18. Deconstructing Skill Set #3 Providing Opportunities to Initiate, Sustain, Extend, & Deepen Learning • Transfer & construction of new knowledge (DOK 3 & 4) • Look for new applications, new insights/opportunities, deeper questions • Justify WHY it has value (personal, social , cultural, etc.) • Disciplined inquiry, elaborated communication (DOK 4) • Initiate and extend knowledge & skills • Apply discipline-specific approaches (research methods) • Generate own complex questions • Demonstrate ‘complex’ messaging (e.g., multimedia) • Creativity, innovation, creative-productive thinking (DOK 3 & 4) • Explore /develop new schemas based on known schemas (e.g., solve /address old problem in a new way)

19. What does CCR research say about… • Use of technology? • Teamwork & collaboration?

20. Making connections How can student-centered learning practices support both deeper learning & college and career readiness?

21. Assessment Types & SCL Integrating Academic & Cross-Cutting Skills in Cognitively Demanding Learning Tasks Providing Opportunities to Initiate, Sustain, Extend, & Deepen Learning • CCR Skill Set #1: • -- performance assessments • -- ongoing, formative assessments promoting self-reflection • -- short & longer constructed response • CCR Skill Set #3: • -- project-based assessments • -- peer & self-assessments promoting self-reflection • -- portfolio assessments • -- mentor-assessments • CCR Skill Set #2: • -- peer & self-assessments promoting self-reflection • -- ongoing, formative assessments • -- individualized assessments, such as personalized learning plans Supporting the Ability to Develop Independence as a Learner

22. The road ahead…

23. Three propositions… • Proposition 1: Re-design curriculum and instruction to systematically integrate targeted cross-cutting skills with challenging academic learning to achieve greater levels of rigor and deeper learning in each content area • Proposition 2: Restructure the “classroom” and the school day to expand learning opportunities that are relevant and authentic to what will be expected in college and careers and employ a range of technically sound assessments to measure this learning • Proposition 3: Redefine the roles of teachers and students, placing students closer to the center of their learning and expanding our ideas of who/what is the “teacher”

24. Some Key References Beyond standards: Supporting deeper, student-centered learning to promotecollege and career readiness • Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly.(2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. • Lucas, Claxton, & Spencer.(2013). Progression in student creativity in school: First steps towards new forms of formative assessments. • Farrington, Roderick, Allensworth, Nagaoka, Keyes, Johnson, & Beechum.(2012). Teaching adolescents to become learners - The role of non-cognitive factors in shaping school performance: A critical literature review. • Mojkowski, & Washor.(2013). Leaving to learn: How out-of-school learning increases student engagement and reduces dropout rates. • Newmann, King, & Carmichael.(2007). Authentic instruction and assessment: Common standards for rigor and relevance in teaching academic subjects. • Savitz-Romer& Bouffard(2012). Ready, willing, and able: A developmental approach to college access and success. • Hess, K. (2013). Linking research with practice: A local assessment toolkit to guide school leaders. www.karin-hess.com