September 20, 2010 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business LEADs Conference

1. September 20, 2010 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business LEADs Conference

2. Overview of the Initiative • State-led and developed common core standards for K-12 in English/ language arts and mathematics • Initiative of the National Governors Association (NGA) and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) • Standards are the starting point.

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. 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 • Internationally benchmarked • Based on evidence and research, including work readiness data from: • U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network (O*Net) – Zone 3 jobs • ACT job profile and workforce and educational assessment information • Employer survey data gathered by the American Diploma Project (ADP)/National Alliance of Business (NAB) and by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and its partner organizations The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills • Research on student preparation for the twenty-first century conducted by Professor Richard Murnane of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and Professor Frank Levy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology • American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) research • Essential Knowledge and Skill Statements from the Career Cluster Initiative • And others….

5. Standards 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, and the general public • Final standards released on June 2, 2010

6. Standards for English/language arts (ELA) & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

7. Design and Organization Three main sections K−5 (cross-disciplinary) 6−12 English Language Arts 6−12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Shared responsibility for students’ literacy development Three appendices A: Research and evidence; glossary of key terms B: Reading text exemplars; sample performance tasks C: Annotated student writing samples

8. Design and Organization Four strands Reading (including Reading Foundational Skills) Writing Speaking and Listening Language An integrated model of literacy Media requirements blended throughout

9. ELA Key Advances Reading Balance of literature and informational texts Text complexity Writing Emphasis on argument and informative/ explanatory writing Writing about sources

10. ELA Key Advances Speaking and Listening • Inclusion of formal and informal talk Language • Stress on general academic and domain-specific vocabulary 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

11. Workforce Readiness The ELA standards reflect workforce requirements in a number of important ways, including: • Emphasize the need to read, analyze, integrate, and communicate clearly about complex information. • Stress the use of evidence and sound reasoning, a crucial aspect of critical thinking and problem solving. • Focus on research—including the sort of short, focused research useful in producing a memo or a report—as a tool for building and conveying knowledge. • Promote the development of the oral communication, teamwork, and collaboration skills necessary in workplace settings, where employees often must speak and interact with people from different backgrounds. • Insist on precise, clear language use, which is essential for effective communication. • Recognize that skills in producing and using media are a vital part of workforce readiness.

12. Intentional Design Limitations What 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 language learners and students with special needs Everything needed to be college- and career-ready

13. Mathematics Standards

14. 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 Organized into domains that progress over several grades Grade introductions give 2–4 focal points at each grade level High school standards presented by conceptual theme (Number & Quantity, Algebra, Functions, Modeling, Geometry, Statistics & Probability)

15. Math Key Advances Focus and coherence Focus on key topics at each grade level. Coherent progressions across grade levels. Balance of concepts and skills Content standards require both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Mathematical practices Foster reasoning and sense-making in mathematics. College and career readiness Level is ambitious but achievable.

16. 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

17. Workforce Readiness The math standards reflect workforce requirements in a number of important ways, including: Overall design • Math is most useful for work if it is “in your back pocket” to be used when necessary – used on your feet, whether it’s on the shop floor or in the conference room. • Therefore, focus in the early grades is on building fluency and confidence with fundamental skills, especially arithmetic, mental math, and proportional reasoning. High school • Emphasis on Modeling to build on those foundations to improve students’ ability to apply math to non-textbook problems.

18. Adoption & Implementation

19. State adoption to date Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Mississippi Missouri New Hampshire New Jersey North Carolina New York As of September 20th, 36 states and DC have adopted the Common Core State Standards: • Nevada • Ohio • Oklahoma • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • Tennessee • Utah • Vermont • Washington (provisional) • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

20. Key Issues Effective implementation Importance of aligned assessments Results of Race to the Top grants Continued state leadership of standards and assessments Politics/Elections

21. NGA & CCSSO Implementation Efforts Implementation guide Supporting states' implementation efforts Future governance CCSSO Accountability Taskforce and Implementing the Common Core SCASS

22. How Can Business Leaders Help Support the Common Core? Advocate for the importance of college and career readiness standards Support Common Core implementation Verify the career readiness elements of the standards for future iterations

23. www.corestandards.org