Tom Foster Kansas State Department of Education

1. Moving from State Assessments to Common CoreKansas ACT State Organization 2012 Annual Conference Tom Foster Kansas State Department of Education

2. Rate Your Prior Knowledge • 0—I’ve never heard of Common Core Standards. • 1—I’ve heard the phrase but know nothing about it. • 2—They are our new standards for math and ELA but I know little else. • 3—I’ve at least scanned the Standards document and know just enough to be dangerous! • 4—I’ve read the Standards document and can use the terms “anchor standard” and “boxed subheading” correctly. • 5—I know the standards backwards and forwards.

3. Common Core State Standards: A New Foundation for Student Success • http://youtu.be/9IGD9oLofks

4. Rumor Control and “Burning Questions” In small groups, take two to three minutes to brainstorm a list of rumors you’ve heard and/or “burning questions” that you have about the Common Core Standards. • I heard these standards will require second graders to read Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Is that true? (No.) • Aren’t these “national standards” and the first step toward a “national curriculum?” (Absolutely not.) • Will new tests eventually be created to assess students on the standards? (Certainly, Kansas was due for new standards and new assessments anyway.) Source:

5. 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). • The Kansas State Board of Education formally adopted the Common Core State Standards for mathematics and English language arts on October 12, 2010.

7. Benefits for Students • Student mobility—comparable education regardless of zip code • Increased alignment between K-12 and post-secondary narrows gap between high school and college and career readiness

8. Benefits to Schools • New and better assessments that better measure student learning • Student mobility—increased likelihood of comparable assessments between states allows for longitudinal data tracking • Easier collaboration among states on curriculum, instruction, and assessment • Shifting of resources to focus on improving instructional practices

9. A New Generation of Standards for College and Career Readiness • Advance instruction – shift focus from AYP to CCR • Cultivate habits of mind – approaches to learning that are intellectual, practical, and spur student success • Facilitate collaboration – among students, among disciplines, among states These standards are our renewed opportunities to:

10. English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

11. Kansas Advantages to Common Core Standards in ELA and Literacy • A focus on college and career readiness (CCR) • Inclusion of the four strands of English Language Arts: • Reading • Writing • Listening and speaking • Language • The benefits of an integrated literacy approach – all Kansas educators have a shared responsibility for literacy instruction, regardless of discipline or content area. • A focus on results rather than means –“the Standards leave room for teachers, curriculum developers, and states to determine how those goals should be reached and what additional topics should be addressed” (p. 4).

12. Hallmarks of College and Career Readiness in English Language Arts and Literacy College and Career Ready Students: • Demonstrate independence in “the 4 C’s” • Comprehend complex text • Critique the craft used to create text • Construct rich understandings of content • Convey multifaceted meaning • Build strong content knowledge through research and study • Respond to varying demands of audience, purpose, task, and discipline in both writing and speaking • Use technology and digital media strategically to deepen encounters with text and to present and share information • Come to understand other perspective and cultures Source: Adapted from “Students Who are College and Career Ready…” (page 7 of the Standards)

13. Key Advances for English Language Arts and Literacy Reading • Balance of literature and informational texts • A focus on appropriate levels of text complexity Writing • Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing • Writing about sources and supplying evidence for claims and ideas Standards for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects • Complement rather than replace content standards in those subjects • Shared responsibility of all educators regardless of discipline

14. Mathematics

15. Mathematical Practices • Rewards instructional best practices • Clear vision of how students should approach and learn mathematics. • Shifts focus to ensuring mathematical understanding over computation skills

16. Mathematical Practices (the list) • Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. • Reason abstractly and quantitatively. • Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. • Model with mathematics. • Use appropriate tools strategically. • Attend to precision. • Look for and make use of structure. • Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

17. About the Critical Areas • Broad topics that can be used to organize instruction around for the entire year • Closely aligned to NCTM’s Focal Points document • Can be used as a focus for transition planning

18. Resources

19. Websites • www.corestandards.org • www.ksde.org/kscommoncore • www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4605

20. Transition timeline Source: Document available at: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4605

22. Common Assessments for the Common Core State Standards Tom Foster Kansas State Department of Education

23. Governors • Education Chiefs • State Legislatures • State Boards of Education • 2 elected co-chairs • 4 representatives elected by governing states • Lead procurement state (WA) • Higher education representative State-Led Governance States Join Consortium as Governing or Advisory State State Representatives Serve on Executive Committee SMARTER Staff WestEd, Project Management Partner Advisory Committees

24. Accessibility and Accommodations Work group engagement of 90 state-level staff: State Involvement in Getting the Work Done: Consortium Work Groups Formative Assessment Practices and Professional Learning Item Development • Each work group: • Led by co-chairs from governing states • 6 or more members from advisory or governing states • 1 liaison from the Executive Committee • 1 WestEd partner Performance Tasks 1 Work group responsibilities: Reporting 2 Technology Approach • Define scope and time line for work in its area • Develop a work plan and resource requirements • Determine and monitor the allocated budget • Oversee Consortium work in its area, including identification and direction of vendors 3 Test Administration 4 Test Design 5 Transition to Common Core State Standards 6 Validation and Psychometrics 7 8 9 10

25. Higher Education Partners Involved in Application • 175public and 13 private systems/institutions of higher education • Representing 74% of the total number of direct matriculation students across all SMARTER Balanced States • Higher education representatives and/or postsecondary faculty serve on: • Executive Committee • Assessment scoring and item review committees • Standard-setting committees • Two directors for higher education engagement to start in mid-October; higher education advisory panel now forming

26. SMARTER Balanced Approach

27. Seven Key Principles • An integrated system • Evidence-based approach • Teacher involvement • State-led with transparent governance • Focus: improving teaching and learning • Actionable information – multiple measures • Established professional standards

28. A Balanced Assessment System Summative assessments Benchmarked to college and career readiness Teachers and schools have information and tools they need to improve teaching and learning Common Core State Standards specify K-12 expectations for college and career readiness All students leave high school college and career ready Teacher resources for formative assessment practices to improve instruction Interim assessments Flexible, open, used for actionable feedback

29. A Balanced Assessment System

30. Faster results • Turnaround in weeks compared to months today Using Computer Adaptive Technology for Summative and Interim Assessments Shorter test length • Fewer questions compared to fixed form tests Increased precision • Provides accurate measurements of student growth over time Tailored to student ability • Item difficulty based on student responses Greater security • Larger item banks mean that not all students receive the same questions Mature technology • GMAT, GRE, COMPASS (ACT), Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)

31. Summative Assessment (Computer Adaptive) Assessment System Components • Assesses thefull range of Common Corein English language arts and mathematics for students in grades 3–8 and 11 (interim assessments can be used in grades 9 and 10) • Measures current student achievement and growth across time, showing progress toward college and career readiness • Can be given once or twice a year (mandatory testing window within the last 12 weeks of the instructional year) • Includes a variety of question types: selected response, short constructed response, extended constructed response, technology enhanced, and performance tasks

32. Interim Assessment (Computer Adaptive) Assessment System Components • Optional comprehensive and content-cluster assessment to help identify specific needs of each student • Can be administered throughout the year • Provides clear examples of expected performance on Common Core standards • Includes a variety of question types: selected response, short constructed response, extended constructed response, technology enhanced, and performance tasks • Aligned to and reported on the same scale as the summative assessments • Fully accessible for instruction and professional development

33. Performance Tasks Assessment System Components • Extended projects demonstrate real-world writing and analytical skills • May include online research, group projects, presentations • Require 1-2 class periods to complete • Included in both interim and summative assessments • Applicable in all grades being assessed • Evaluated by teachers using consistent scoring rubrics “ The use of performance measures has been found to increase the intellectual challenge in classrooms and to support higher-quality teaching. - Linda Darling-Hammond and Frank Adamson, Stanford University ”

34. Few initiatives are backed by evidence that they raise achievement. Formative assessment is one of the few approaches proven to make a difference. - Stephanie Hirsh, Learning Forward Formative Assessment Practices Assessment System Components • Research-based, on-demand tools and resources for teachers • Aligned to Common Core, focused on increasing student learning and enabling differentiation of instruction • Professional development materials include model units of instruction and publicly released assessment items, formative strategies “ ”

35. Data are only useful if people are able to access, understand and use them… For information to be useful, it must be timely, readily available, and easy to understand. - Data Quality Campaign Online Reporting Assessment System Components “ • Static and dynamic reports, secure and public views • Individual states retain jurisdiction over access and appearance of online reports • Dashboard gives parents, students, practitioners, and policymakers access to assessment information • Graphical display of learning progression status (interim assessment) • Feedback and evaluation mechanism provides surveys, open feedback, and vetting of materials ”

36. Support for Special Populations • Accurate measures of progress for students with disabilities and English Language Learners • Accessibility and Accommodations Work Group engaged throughout development • Outreach and collaboration with relevant associations Common- Core Tests to Have Built-in Accommodations - June 8, 2011 “ ”

37. Timeline Master Plan Developed and Work Groups Launched Formative Processes, Tools, and Practices Development Begins Item Writing and Review Activities Completed (Summative and Interim) Field Testing of Summative Assessment Administered Final Achievement Standards (Summative) Verified and Adopted 2010-2011 School Year 2011-2012 School Year 2012-2013 School Year 2013-2014 School Year 2014-2015 School Year Operational Summative Assessment Administered Preliminary Achievement Standards (Summative) Proposed and Other Policy Definitions Adopted Pilot Testing of Summative and Interim Assessments Conducted Common Core Translation and Item Specifications Complete Common Core State Standards Adopted by All States

38. Procurement Schedule from Master Work Plan

39. State Implementation: Timeline Teams of teachers evaluate formative assessment practices and curriculum resources Technology readiness tool available Field testing of summative assessment, training school- and district-level staff in formative tools Full implementation of assessment system 2011-2012 School Year 2012-2013 School Year 2013-2014 School Year 2014-2015 School Year Formative tools available to teachers

40. To find out more... ...the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium can be found online at www.smarterbalanced.org