Common Core State Standards Background and ELA Overview

Created By: Penny Plavala, Literacy Specialist

•Review background of Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

•Examine key features of the new standards

•Learn what the CCSS mean for Oregon

Session Goals

Oregon Educators Are Asking…

• Why do we need common standards?

• Where did they come from?

• Who wrote them?

• What do they mean for Oregon?

• What does this mean for my classroom?

What’s The Problem?

40% must take remedial classes at 4-year colleges

60% must take remedial classes at 2-year colleges

* The College Board 2010 Progress Report

• Students graduating from high school are unprepared for college and career.*

• Out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked:

14th in reading

25th in math*

*2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

What Is the Problem?

• A joint effort by the:

- National Governors Association - Council of Chief State School Officers

Common Core State Standards Initiative

• A state-led initiative States were in the driver’s seat. The federal government did not develop the

standards or require their adoption.

• Brought together K-12 educators, university partners, education researchers, community members, etc. to create the standards.

• Final standards were released on June 2, 2010.

• Adopted by Oregon State Board of Education on October 28, 2010:

ELA & Literacy in History/SS, Science and Technical Subjects

Mathematics

Standards Development Process

46 States Have Adopted the CCSS

Adopted

Adopted English Language Arts Standards

Not Yet Adopted

As of November 4, 2011

• Currently, every state has its own set of academic standards, meaning public education students in each state are learning to different levels

• All students must be prepared to compete with not only their American peers in the next state, but with students from around the world

What are advantages of common standards?

• Prepares students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and work

• Ensures consistent expectations regardless of a student’s zip code

• Provides educators, parents, and students with clear, focused guideposts

Why are common standards important for students, teachers, and parents?

Features of the Standards

• Aligned with college and work expectations

• Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher-order skills

• Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards

• Based on evidence and research

• Informed by other top performing countries (internationally benchmarked)

Features of the Standards• The College and Career Readiness (CCR)

anchor standards were written first and describe expectations for the end of high school.

• The CCSS were then back-mapped down to kindergarten to ensure that students would be on track early to meet rigorous end of high school literary goals.

Clear

Focused Rigorous

CommonCore StateStandards

The standards define:

• what is most essential• grade level expectations• what students are expected to know and be able

to do• cross-disciplinary literacy skills

The standards do NOT define:

• how teachers should teach• all that can or should be taught• the nature of advanced work• intervention methods or materials• the full range of supports for English learners

and students with special needs

What do the CCSS Mean for Oregon?

• Districts will continue to prepare students for the OAKS assessment through 2013-2014.

• CCSS will be fully implemented and assessed through a common assessment in 2014-2015.

Stepping Up to the Challenge

2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013

2013 – 2014

2014 -2015

YOU ARE HERE

Kindergarten CCSS

Next-GenerationAssessments

SmarterBalancedAssessmentConsortium

First Group of 3rd Graders

First Group of 8th Graders

What is the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium?

• SBAC is a collection of 29 states that have been working collaboratively to develop next-generation assessments that are aligned to the CCSS and that accurately measure student progress toward college and career readiness.

• www.smarterbalanced.org

Optional Interim assessment system — no stakes

Summative assessment for accountability

Last 12 weeks of year*

DIGITAL CLEARINGHOUSE of formative tools, processes and exemplars; released items and tasks; model curriculum units; educator training; professional development tools and resources; an interactive reporting system; scorer training modules; and teacher collaboration tools.

Scope, sequence, number, and timing of interim assessments locally determined

PERFORMANCETASKS

• Reading• Writing• Math

COMPUTERADAPTIVE

ASSESSMENT

The SBAC Assessment System

* Time windows may be adjusted based on results from the research agenda and final implementation decisions.

English Language Arts and Mathematics, Grades 3 – 8 and High School

Computer Adaptive Assessment and Performance Tasks

INTERIM ASSESSMENT

Computer Adaptive Assessment and Performance Tasks

INTERIM ASSESSMENT

Turn and Talk

• What information was new to you in the CCSS overview?