Common Core State Standards

1. Evaluation and Research Testing Office Common Core State Standards What This Means for Us Carol L. Jenkins Senior Director for Testing June 24, 2011

2. Let’s start at the very beginning • Once upon a time in 2008…. • DPI gave birth to a bouncing baby project they named • ACRE • Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort

3. So what is ACRE? • North Carolina’s comprehensive initiative to redefine… • Standard Course of Study • Student Assessment Progress • School Accountability Model

4. Courtesy of NCDPI

5. Between 2008-2013 The ACRE initiative would • Identify most critical knowledge and skills students need to learn • Create new tests for grades 3-8 and High School with • More open ended questions • More technology • More real world applications

6. Between 2008-2013 The ACRE initiative would also • Provide a new model for measuring school success • Would give parents and educators more relevant information about how well schools are preparing students for college, work, and adulthood

7. Then along came… Common Core State Standards

8. What is it? • A consortia of states working to develop shared K-12 standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts

9. The Common Core State Standards Initiative • Beginning in the spring of 2009, Governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states, 2 territories and the District of Columbia committed to developing a common core of state K-12 English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics standards. • The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). www.corestandards.org • Courtesy of SBAC

10. Common Core State Standards • K-12 learning progressions developed leading to college and career readiness in high school • Multiple rounds of feedback from states, teachers, researchers, higher education, and the general public • June 2, 2010: Final Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was released • Courtesy of SBAC

11. Timeline Overview

12. Timeline Overview

13. What does this mean for NC? All new standards are benchmarked against the best in national and international academic expectations.

14. What’s the impact on ACRE? • ACRE assimilates Common Core State Standards into its ongoing plan • We’re already well on the way • And now we’re part of a national consortia to benchmark our standards

15. The DPI Timeline….

16. The DPI Timeline

17. Then came Race to the Top • The US Department of Education’s Race-to-the-Top competition awarded extra points to a state’s application if the state provided evidence of adopting, or moving toward adoption of “a” common core of standards • When adopting the standards, states may not remove standards, but may add to them as long as the added state-specific standards comprise no more than 15% of the total • Courtesy of SBAC

18. Timeline Overview

19. You now have…

20. Common Core and the Consortia

21. Current status of state adoptions of Common Core State Standards • As of June 22, 2011, 46 states (including DC) have adopted the Common Core State Standards • The states that have not yet adopted the standards: Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia • Courtesy of SBAC

22. 46 States Have Adopted the Common Core State Standards MT and ND Have Joined Courtesy of SBAC

23. Now what? • All in agreement to create nationally benchmarked curriculum in Math and ELA • But… how do you assess them?

24. Race to the Top Competition for Assessment Development • $350 million of RttT funds was set aside for awards to consortia of states to design and develop common K-12 assessment systems • September, 2010 – USDoE awarded grants to • PARCC – Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers • SBAC – Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium • They have 4 years to develop assessments to be administered during the 2014-15 school year Courtesy of SBAC

25. North Carolina’s status Also in September, 2010 – NC joined SBAC • NC is a governing state • As a governing state, NC has decision making participation • Greater leadership obligation • Formal voting status • http://www.k12.wa.us/SMARTER/default.aspx

26. Governing vs. Advisory States • You can only be a member of one consortium • You have voting rights • You have greater decision making ability • Greater leadership responsibility • 34 states • You can be a member of both consortia • You have no voting rights • Less of a leadership role • 8 states Governing Status Advisory Status

27. 30 SBAC States as of June 7,2011 Courtesy of SBAC

28. 24 PARCC States as of June 14, 2011 CA No Longer Part of PARCC Governing State Advisory State Courtesy of PARCC

29. Comparison of Both Consortia • Paper/pencil option for grades 3-5 • 6-12 will be on-line (but not computer adaptive) • Will have writing test as part of assessment • No paper/pencil option, but will have p/p for 3 years to allow for transition, infrastructure, and student familiarity with computers • No writing test • Will be computer adaptive PARCC SBAC

30. Comparison of Both Consortia • Through course design • By 12 weeks should know material and will be tested on it • Grade stays with student • Quarterly assessments add up to summative score • Issue: What happens with remediation? • No expectation by a certain point • Whenever want to assess student will be able to measure the material the student knows • Interim assessments are for informational purposes • Are non-secure; open to teachers • Summative at the end of the year (last 12 weeks) PARCC SBAC

31. Courtesy of SBAC

32. Courtesy of SBAC

40. Courtesy of NCDPI

41. DPI’s Computer Adaptive Testing Timeline 2012/2013 • All EOCs available online • Following assessments specifically developed for online environment: • EOG Science Grades 5 and 8 • NCExtend 2 Science Grades 5 and 8 • NCExtend2 Math and ELA Grades 3-8 • EOC – English II, Algebra I, and Biology • NCExtend2 – English II, Algebra I, and Biology

42. DPI’s Computer Adaptive Testing Timeline 2014/2015 • All EOCs and EOGs will be developed specifically for online environment • Limited use of alternate paper/pencil version