David Abel, Fellow for ELA Curriculum and Assessment NYS Regents Research Fund

1. ELA Coordinator Network Meeting:Role Educators Play in Effective Implementation and Supervision of Common Core Instruction David Abel, Fellow for ELA Curriculum and Assessment NYS Regents Research Fund EngageNY.org

2. Introduction Who am I? What do I do? Why do I do it? Engageny.org

3. Why is change hard? “As readers, we remain in the nursery stage so long as we cannot distinguish between taste and judgment, so long, that is, as the only possible verdicts we can pass on a book are two: this I like; this I don’t like. For an adult reader, the possible verdicts are five: I can see this is good and I like it; I can see this is good but I don’t like it; I can see this is good and, though at present I don’t like it, I believe that with perseverance I shall come to like it; I can see that this is trash but I like it; I can see that this is trash and I don’t like it.” ― W.H. Auden, A Certain World: A Commonplace Book Engageny.org

4. Why is change hard? “…For a thoughtful educator, the possible verdicts when considering reform-related arguments are five: I can see this is well-reasoned and I like its answers; I can see this is well-reasoned but I don’t like its answers; I can see this is well-reasoned and, though at present I don’t like it (or fully understand it), I believe that with perseverance I might come to understand its virtues; I haven’t determined whether this is well-reasoned, but I like its answers; I haven’t determined whether this is well-reasoned, and I don’t like its answers.” https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/some-pithy-wisdom-from-w-h-auden/ Engageny.org

5. The Challenges of Effective Implementation • Change is hard for adults. • Leaving one’s comfort zone makes one feel vulnerable • Having the time and mental space to study the new to figure out what it IS, let alone whether or not it is well-reasoned • Skepticism, cynicism, apathy, fatigue with all things coming ‘top down’ • Misinformation Engageny.org

6. The Challenges of Effective Implementation • Change is hard for systems comprised of adults. • Organizations are not easily set up for change • Skepticism, cynicism, apathy, fatigue with all things coming ‘top down’ • Feeling of instability/insecurity Engageny.org

7. The Role of Educators in Effective Implementation • Acknowledge it’s not easy (for adults nor students) • Model reasonable behavior! (for adults and students) • Create a supportive culture (for adults and students) • where being challenged and stretched is the norm and feels OK to students • where all kids engage in grade-level texts and tasks but get the scaffolds they need • where the adults are the poker-faced facilitators of the learning and kids do most of the talking Engageny.org

8. The Role of Educators in Effective Implementation • Curriculum ≠ script • Customize the lessons/units while keeping in line with shifts to meet the needs of your students • It takes a village: bounce ideas off your colleagues within and outside your schools/districts/etc. • Borrow/steal good ideas wherever you see them! Engageny.org

9. The Role of Supervisors in Effective Implementation • Supportive culture, high standards • As with students, being challenged and stretched needs to be the norm and needs to feel OK to the grown-ups • Growth mindset with the eye on the prize: moving kids from where they are to where they need to be… Engageny.org

10. CCSS ELA implementation with ALL struggling learners • When does struggle become non-productive for students… • Who are reading two or more grades below their current grade level? • Who are in the early stages of acquiring the English language? • Who lack the background knowledge/academic vocabulary needed to access complex texts as a result of growing up in poverty? • Who have compounded skill deficits? Engageny.org

11. CCSS ELA implementation with ALL struggling learners REMEMBER: the inability to read on grade level has no bearing on intellectual capacity for critical thinking, inference making, and strategic implementation of strategies to assist comprehension. Students can engage in evidence-based discourse and teachers can scaffold access to text through a variety of ways, including chunking text, read-alouds to model fluency and expose students to text, shared reading experiences, and a variety of other strategies designed to support, not supplant, accessing content. Engageny.org

12. CCSS ELA implementation with ALL struggling learners How and which of these adaptations are implemented depend on a number of factors, including the complexity of the text being studied, the standards being addressed, and the needs of the student. The critical piece in this adaption of a CCSS-aligned curriculum is to ensure that the changes to instruction allow for students to meet the rigor of the standards through adaptations in procedures, pacing and modes of delivery based on their needs, without altering or reducing the demands of the standards. Engageny.org

13. CCSS ELA implementation with ALL struggling learners Effective implementation with diverse learners… -may require changes to the HOW while maintaining the WHAT -may require to slow down. -may require reinforcement activities/additional opportunities with the text(s) -will require independent reading/students reading what interests them -will require scheduling/time in the day to meet the needs of these students. -will require formative assessment to see what’s working and what isn’t Engageny.org

14. Questions? Engageny.org

15. Thank You dabel@mail.nysed.gov Engageny.org