The Common Core State Standards

1. The Common Core State Standards English / Lang Arts

2. Agenda • Overview of the Standards • Focus: College and Career Readiness • Priority 1: READ • Priority 2: WRITE • Priority 3: THINK • Priority 4: DIFFERENTIATE

3. Preparing for Common Core State StandardsEnglish Language Arts

4. The Common Core State Standards Why do we care?

5. One Word: Rigor College and Career Readiness Requires RIGOR

6. Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma. And yet, just over half of our citizens have that level of education.

7. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree.

8. ACT Study – Schmeiser, 2006 Chance of later success Science Mathematics Unprepared in Reading Prepared in Reading 1% 32% 15% 67%

9. "We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world... The countries that out-teach us today will out-competeus tomorrow.”

10. Quick Facts • Each year, approximately 1.2 million students fail to graduate from high school, more than half of whom are from minority groups. • Percent of freshmen that enroll in at least one remedial course Alliance for Excellent Education, February 2009 edition.

11. Students Obtaining Bachelor’s Degree in Eight Years Students who enroll in a remedial reading course are 41 percent more likely to drop out of college. (NCES, 2004a) Alliance for Excellent Education, February 2009 edition.

12. Average Income by Educational Attainment Alliance for Excellent Education, February 2009 edition.

13. “If we can dramatically increase high school graduation rates, if we can dramatically increase the number of graduates who are college and career ready, that’s what this is about. Everything’s a means to that end. That’s the Holy Grail here. Are our students being prepared to be successful?” – Arne Duncan Education Week, December 9, 2009.

14. Change in text complexity in textbooks over the last century Source: Metametrics

15. Today’s text gap Source: Metametrics

17. Common Core: Common Success Align to Building Goals Great News: Content is 66% Aligned!

18. Read: Nonfiction Write: Literacy Across Content Think: Critical Thinking

19. To Argue . . . and Inform. . . in Writing CCSS Requires Argument / Evidence-based Writing Distribution of Communicative Purposes by Grade in the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework Source: National Assessment Governing Board (2007). Writing framework for the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, pre-publication edition. Iowa City, IA. ACT, Inc. It follows that writing assessments aligned with the Standards should adhere to the distribution of writing purpose across grades outlined by NAEP.

20. Percentage distribution of literary and informational passages: Nonfiction is Key Source: National Assessment Governing Board. Reading Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Washington, D.C.: American Institutes for Research, 2007.

21. Cognitive Targets: CCSS Requires Focus on Rigorous Elements NAEP 2009 PISA 2009 Locating / Recalling Integrating / Interpreting Critiquing / Evaluating Accessing and retrieving Integrating and interpreting Reflecting and evaluating

22. Text Lexile® levels today and with Common Core: Rigor increased 3 Grade Levels Current Typical text measures (by grade) Common Core Text complexity grade bands and associated Lexile ranges

23. Common Core State Standards College and career ready kids for a competitive America

24. Preparing for Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts

27. National Pathway Phase I CCSS = P.L.A.N

28. Brief overview • English Language Arts, History / Social Studies, Science and Technical subjects • In secondary, Standards do not replace but AUGMENT content area standards • Increase informational text • Focus on critical thinking, analysis, evaluation and argument

29. The outcome? • Read closely • Understand complex text • Read critically and evaluate text • “Wide, deep thoughtful engagement to build knowledge with reasoning and use of evidence” • Read, write, speak and listen

30. Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science Appendix A: Findings • Students who fall short of ACT’s college readiness benchmarks have the greatest difficulty with the test items involving the most complex text. • K-12 reading assignments have become much less demanding in the last half-century, with an especially large drop-off in high school expectations. Weston, S.P. (2010). “The giant text complexity challenge inside the new literacy standards.” The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

31. Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science Appendix A: Findings • College reading assignments have moved in the opposite direction, becoming a bit harder over the same fifty years. • High school teachers commonly give students many kinds of support and coaching to help them figure out the material, but college teachers expect students to pull the knowledge from the text on their own, making the gap in practical ability even wider than the gap in the texts themselves.

32. Meeting the same high standards • It is also beyond the scope of the Standards to define the full range of supports appropriate for English language learners and for students with special needs. At the same time, all students must have the opportunity to learn and meet the same high standards if they are to access the knowledge and skills necessary in their post-high school lives. • Each grade will include students who are still acquiring English. For those students, it is possible to meet the standards in reading, writing, speaking, and listening without displaying native-live control of conventions and vocabulary.

33. Key elements for WINNING! • Read:Nonfiction • Write:Literacy Across Content • Think: Critical Thinking • .

34. Build strong content knowledge • Build knowledge in different subjects • Become proficient in new areas • Read purposefully • Refine knowledge and share it

35. Comprehend and critique • Open-minded, skeptical readers • Understand what authors are saying • Question an author’s assumptions • Assess the veracity of claims

36. Privilege evidence • Cite text evidence for interpretations • Make reasoning clear • Evaluate others’ use of evidence

37. Use technology strategically and capably • Employ technology thoughtfully • Efficiently search online for information • Integrate online and offline information • Select bestsuited media for goals

38. Informational text • Because most college and workplace reading is nonfiction, students need to hone their ability to acquire knowledge from informational texts

39. Independence and text • The scaffolding for reading in school disappears in college and at work • To become independent, students must encounter unfamiliar texts without supporting materials

40. What do YOU think is most important to do TODAY?

42. Priority for This Year • READ! 50/55/75 nonfiction • WRITE!Especially persuasive • THINK!Higher-levels of critical thinking • Beyond TEXT – Onward to TASK

43. Goal: Accelerate Growth

44. Priority 1: Your Content • Rigorous content for each grade level • Sufficient informational text • Address ELL needs • Common standards for ALL students • Content that is coherent across themes • Review your library – large task ahead!

45. The problem with textbooks just got bigger • Textbooks and supplemental materialsmay not align to . . . • Rigor / textual complexity • Informational text • Consistent standards • Content / theme coherence • ELL needs

46. Solution 1: Nonfiction (READ!) • Informational text • Grade level rigor aligned to Common Core requirements • Many students – the SAME standards • ELL component • Thematic coherence • GO DEEPER!

47. Simply put . . . • Plan ahead: What nonfiction will you use? • Integrate Current Events • Biography is nonfiction • Prioritize “academic” vocabulary • Include History in the discussion of Literature • Use Science-based examples

48. Percentage distribution of literary and informational passages: Nonfiction is Key Source: National Assessment Governing Board. Reading Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Washington, D.C.: American Institutes for Research, 2007.

50. Many levels • One text • Common • standards