Evaluating Common Core Math Materials

What "Aligned to CC" Really Means

john meinzen

Edwardsville High School

October 5, 2012

How this presentation “fits in” to Illinois’ Teaching Framework

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation

1d Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources

• For classroom• To extend

content knowledge

• For students

Intro to the Tri-State Rubric• Short History

– In 2010-11, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) adopted by many states (Illinois among the leaders)

– circa 2015, students (and educators?) will begin to be evaluated according to CCSS

• Current problems– CCSS are well-known but not well-understood…especially the Practice

Standards– Task-based lessons are the new buzz words for student performance but they

are showing up a bit too early to be carefully aligned with the PARCC tests (how can anyone be correctly aligned to something that doesn’t exist yet?)

– “CC-Aligned” materials are commonplace but few people really understand the definition of “aligned” (hint: it has not been defined)

• Solution– In 2010-11, 3 states (New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts) were

awarded a large grant to create a usable and free rubric to help educators understand classroom/coursework unit (or chapter) materials’ alignment and rigor to the CCSS.

– The result was the Tri-State Rubric…the focus of this presentation

Tri-State Rubric GoalsWhat it is useful for…• Educators

– Curriculum decision-makers to help evaluate or select CC course material

– teacher professional development

• K-12 grades– today will be “training” on Algebra

1 (somewhere in 7-10th grades)• Math alignment with CC

– a rubric is available for English as well

• evaluating Unit/Chapters– training will focus on Functions -

usually part of Chapter 1– CC standard F.IF.1

What it is not…• Not a guideline for “the test”

– though Tri-State Rubric designed along with PARCC support

• Not for daily lesson plans – though Unit/Chapter will

contain such plans• Not for the faint-hearted

– make sure you have detailed-oriented people involved who are not afraid of being critical… let’s call these people “critical thinkers”

• Not a lecture – except for this PowerPoint

Noteworthy items on the Tri-State Rubric

• The Tri-State Rubric refers to a “Lesson” in the same way as that most Illinois educators think of as a “Chapter or Unit” (apparently, a “Lesson” in other parts of the country refer to materials covered in a week to several months)

• We (about 150 educators around the country) spent two 8-hour days training on the rubric in May 2012…we didn’t find a single “excellent” unit plan but we did learn a great deal about how “high” the expectation is.

• The rubric is “open source.” It can be modified by any group. The only requirement is that you give credit to the Tri-State Collaboration

Tri-State Math Rubric Single Page

Tri-State Math Rubric with Comment Blocks (page 1/2)

Tri-State Math Rubric with Comment Blocks (page 2/2)

Follow-up Info

• Tri-State Rubric– http://engageny.org/resource/tri-state-quality-r

eview-rubric-and-rating-process/– (currently at Version 4…but only minor

differences)

• PowerPoint– www.meinzeit.com/ROE/Oct2012