Massachusetts Draft of Prekindergarten Standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts

1. Massachusetts Draft ofPrekindergarten Standardsin Mathematics and English Language Arts Susan Wheltle, Donna Traynham, and Barbara Libby Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2. Common Core Standards Timeline • Spring 2009 • National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) propose a project to develop common state standards in ELA and mathematics • States sign on to support Common Core • Summer2009-Summer 2010 • Multiple drafts of the Common Core State Standards reviewed by states, professional organizations, the public • Final versions of the K-12 Common Core State Standards published June 2010 • Common Core State Standards adopted by the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education July 2010

3. Common Core State Standards • Ultimate Goal: all high school graduates across the U.S. ready for college, careers, and success in the global economy • K-12 Standards designed to be focused, coherent, rigorous • Based on research and the standards of high-performing countries and states in the U.S. • The Problem: There are no Common Core State Standards for Prekindergarten

4. Designing Prekindergarten Standards aligned to the Common Core • EEC/ESE staff, experts in early childhood education drafted Prekindergarten standards based on • The Kindergarten Common Core Standards (2010) • The Massachusetts Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences (2003) • The Massachusetts Kindergarten Learning Experiences (2008) • Draft Massachusetts PreK standards created by Curriculum Framework Revision panels (2007-2010) • Draft Massachusetts Standards for Infants and Toddlers (2010)

5. Draft Prekindergarten Standards • Are written with children who are “late fours and early fives” in mind • Currently address English language arts and mathematics • Are just the beginning of an effort that will represent the broad spectrum of the prekindergarten curriculum

6. Draft PreK Standard for Math • Recognize and name the numerals 0-10. • Leads to the following kindergarten standard: Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

7. Draft PreK Standard for ELA • With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about a story or poem read aloud. • Leads to the following kindergarten standard: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

8. Timeline- Going Forward • October 12 and 19, 2010: Draft Prekindergarten standards to be presented to Boards of Early Education and Care and Elementary and Secondary Education • October-December, 2010: Public Comment Period; online survey available and presentations across the state on the draft standards and the Common Core. • December, 2010: Revisions made as needed; final versions of the standards presented to the EEC and ESE Boards for approval. Completed and approved documents will be the new Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for ELA and Mathematics.

9. Timeline- Going Forward • January 2011 onward • Professional development, support to Pre-K-12 districts and preschools for curriculum alignment • Informational sessions across the state in DSACs and Readiness Centers • Standards embedded into Race to the Top initiatives-Teaching and Learning System