5

Studentswillworktounderstandeachother’sthoughtprocesswhile

theyfocusontherightanswer.

Studentswillnotonlylearninformationandtheanswerstospecific

questions,they’llbedevelopingtheabilitytosolveproblemsasthey

arise.That’swhatweallneedtodoinreallifeandwhatwelookforin

thepeoplewehire.Andinaworldwherewedon’tknowwhatthejobs

oftomorrowwillbe,havingemployeeswhoarebetterabletoanalyzea

situationandsolveproblemswillbekeytooursuccess.

#1 Goals of California’s Common Core Standards

New,morerigorousacademicstandards,calledCommonCore,have

beensetoutbythestateofCalifornia.ThesenewCommonCore

learningstandardsraisethebaronwhatstudentsshouldknowandbe

abletodobytheendofeachgradelevel.

OurcompanysupportsCommonCorestandardsbecausethegoalisto

ensurethatgraduatesarebetterpreparedtogoontocollegeorjointhe

workforce–nowandinthefuture.CommonCoreemphasizesreal-world

skillslikeworkingwithagroup,applyingconceptstonewsituationsand

analyzingthequalityofinformationbeingusedinourwork.

California’sCommonCorelearningstandardsaregivingrisetoanew

wayofteachingandlearningintheclassroom.Teachersarefocusing

onconceptualunderstanding,diggingdeeperintosubjectmatterand

buildingonwhatkidsalreadyknowtohelpthemdiscoverthenextlevel.

TA K I N G A C T I O N : R E A C H I N G O U T

Emphasize the benefits of Common Core. Connect with your community.

N E W S L E T T E R / W E B S I T E I T E M S

METHOD

Timingiskey.Itismosteffectivetopublishthesesnippetsatregular

intervals.Publishingthemallatoncewilloverwhelmyouraudience.

IncludealinktooneofthevideosinthisToolkit.

VALUE

Thesemini-articlesaredesignedtohelpyou

dropinformationabouttheCommonCore

standardsintoacommunication.

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Continued: N E W S L E T T E R / W E B S I T E I T E M S

#2 Teachers Implement Common Core

YoumaybewonderingifCalifornia’sCommonCorelearningstandards

meansthereislesslocalcontrolbyourschools.UnderCommonCore,

eventhoughtherearehigherstatestandards,individualteacherswill

decidehowtoteachintheirclassrooms.

Thekeytoastudent’ssuccessunderthenewlearningstandardsisin

theimplementation.Teacherswillconstantlyidentifywhatworksand

whichteachingtechniquesneedtobeaddedtobuildastronger,more

valuableeducationforstudentsinthelongrun.

Forexample,insteadofdeliveringscriptedlessonplansand

worksheets,teachersareexpectedtoengagetheirstudentsin

discussionandlearnhowastudentisthinkingabouttheproblemsthat

arebeingpresented.Thismeansteachersandstudentsspendalot

oftimelistening,quotingwhatthey’veheardbacktoeachotherand

asking,“Why?”

Thistypeoflearningwillresultingraduateswhohavemorejob-ready

skillsthatbusinesses,suchasours,neednowandinthefuture.

#3 Common Core: Benefits to Business

California’sCommonCorelearningstandardsaimtopreparestudents

forlifeoutsideoftheclassroom.

Forexample,whenyouwalkintoworkeachmorning,nobodywarns

youthat,“Todaywillbeamultiplyingfractionsday.”Instead,youneed

tohandlequestionsandsolveproblemsastheyarise.Sometimes,you

needtoworkacrossdivisionstofindsolutions.

Studentsneedtorealizetherearenonotestoconsultandoftenno

“right”answersthatcanbememorized.Often,employeesneedto

workasateamtosolveanissue.SomeofCommonCore’smost

importantattributes,suchastheabilitytosolveproblemscreatively,

communicateeffectivelyandworkinteams,areneededeverydayby

OrangeCountycompaniesandentrepreneurs.

Asstudentsprepareforthisreality,teachersarefocusingmorethan

everonreal-worldskills.

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7

#4 How Group Learning Spurs Personalized Learning

California’sCommonCorelearningstandardsaredesignedtoensure

thateachstudentisabletogainasetofskillsbeforemovingontothe

nextone.Theonlywayteacherscandothisisbyunderstandingeach

student’scomprehensionlevel,andfocusingonhowtheylearn.That’s

whythestandardsplacesuchhighpriorityonunderstandingalearner’s

thoughtprocess—whetherforamathproblemoraclassicnovel.

Thisfocusonindividualstudentskillsiswhystudentsareworkingon

moregroupprojects.Teachersaretryingtounderstandwhatstudents

aresayingandhowtheyexplaintheirreasoningtotheirpeers.This,in

turn,helpstheteacherteacheachstudentathisorherownlevel.

FOR EXAMPLE:

1. Thestudentexploresaproblemandcomestoconclusionson

theirown.

2. Theteacherleadsadiscussionabouttheconclusionsstudents

make.Studentsareencouragedtosharetheirideasandthe

teacherguidesthemtowardtheconceptbeingtaught.

3. Theteacherthenstepsinandteachesthemathematicalconcept

andprovidesexercisesforstudentstopractice.

Thatmeansthatinsteadofasheetofmultiplicationtables,teachersare

helpingstudentsunderstandwhymultiplicationworksthewayitdoes.

Oncethestudenthaslearnedthat,heorshewillbeabletoapplythe

conceptsofmultiplesinanysituation,notjustonatest.

#5 Local Control of the Classroom

California’sCommonCorestandardsgivefarmoreflexibilityto

teachersanddistrictsthaninthepast.

Thesestandardssetoutwhateachstudentisexpectedtoknowby

theendoftheschoolyear.However,thestandardsdonottellthe

teacherhowtoteach.Thecurriculum,specificbooks,lessonplans

andclassroomexercisesareleftuptoeachdistricttodecideon

itsown.Bydoingthis,California’sCommonCorestandardsallow

individualcommunitiestotailorlearningexercisesandlessonsto

theirownstudents.

Previousstandardshadsometimesprovidedteacherswithstandard

scriptstoreadandencouragedthemtosticktothetextbooks.The

newstandardsallowthosedecisionstobemadeatthedistrictlevel,

muchclosertothefrontlinesofteaching.

Districtofficialsandteachersareworkinginprofessionallearning

teamsacrosstheregiontocomparenotesandideasandtolearnfrom

oneanother.

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#6 Literature in California’s new Core Learning Standards

TheideabehindCalifornia’sCommonCorelearningstandardsistohelp

studentsbereadyforcareersandlifeinthe21stCentury.

CommonCoresetsstudentsuptotrulyunderstandwhattheyread,so

theyentercollegeandtheworkforcewithstrongcriticalthinkingand

problem-solvingskills.That’swhythestandardsemphasizedepthover

breadthinreading.

Atapracticallevel,thatmeansstudentsinEnglishclasseswillstillbe

readingliteraryclassicsandengagingwiththemmoredeeply,taking

thetimetodomorethanjustfollowthestoryline.Thequestionswillbe

aroundwhythingshappened,notjustwhathappened.They’regoing

beaskedtoshowtheyhavereallythoughtthroughwhatitmeans.And

moreoften,theywillalsoreadpairednonfictionbooksthathelpthem

tounderstandanovel’shistoricalsetting.Ifstudentscanlearntodothat

withonebook,theywillhaveaskilltheycanapplytoanytext.

Studentswillbeaskedtoreadmoreinmostclasses,includinginteresting

andchallenginginformationalarticlesthathaverichvocabularyandcan

deepenstudents’contentknowledge.

Intheend,theseskillswillbetterequipstudentstotakeonthe

challengesoftomorrow’sworkforce.

#7 Formative Assessment

Whenyouwriteareportoremail,haveyoueveraskedacolleague

to,“Takeaquicklook?”Whenyoudo,you’reaskingforaformative

assessment.

Formativeassessmentistheongoingprocessofcollectingdataon

whatpeopleknowordon’tknow,andchangingtrackaccordingly.At

school,theideaisthatwithaclearvisionoftheprogresseachstudent

ismaking,teacherscanadjusttheirlessonplansandprovidenecessary

interventionstoimproveindividualachievement.

California’sCommonCorestandardsurgeteacherstoengagein

formativeassessmentinsteadofwaitinguntiltheend-of-semesterfinal

togaugeastudent’sprogress.Thestandardsareaimedat“building

children’scapacitytothink,analyze,communicateandreason.”Totest

that,teachersneedtofindoutwherethestudentsarewithgrappling

withcomplexideas.

Formativeassessmentistheongoingprocessofcollectingdataon

whatpeopleknowordon’tknow,andchangingtrackaccordingly.With

aclearvisionoftheprogresseachstudentismaking,teacherscan

adjusttheirlessonplansandprovidenecessaryinterventionstoimprove

individualachievement.

Togetafullpictureofstudentunderstanding,teachersaskopen-ended

questionsandgetstudentstoexploreideasaloud.Theylisteninwhen

kidsareworkingtogether.Theyevenencouragestudentstoassess

eachotherandthemselves.

Checkinginwithchildrentofigureoutwhetherthey’veunderstooda

conceptorlessonismoreimportantthanever.

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9

#8 Smarter Balanced Assessments

Peopleacrossthecountryhaveaskedwhetherthenewlearning

standardssetoutbytheCommonCoreframeworkwillbeeffective.

Theonlywaytoanswerthatquestionistomeasurestudents’progress

underthenewteachingmethods.That’swhy,attheendoftheyear,all

3rdthrough8thgradersand11thgraderswillbetestedunderthenew

SmarterBalancedassessments.TheoldSTARsystemhasbeenretired

inCalifornia.ThenewsystemiscalledtheCaliforniaAssessmentof

StudentPerformanceandProgress(CAASPP).

Thenewtestswillindicatethelevelofpreparationforcareersor

collegecourses.Studentswillseefewermultiple-choicequestions

andwillneedtoprovidemoreshortanswersandextendedresponses

thatfocusontheirthoughtprocess.LiketheCommonCorelearning

standards,thetestsaredesignedtopushstudents’critical-thinkingand

real-worldproblemsolvingskills.

Thetestsaredesignedtoprovideflexibilityforindividualstudentneeds.

They’reconductedoncomputers,whichgivestudentsaccesstothings

likescratchpadsandcalculators.Byputtingtheassessmentsonline,

resultswillbereturnedmorequickly,andschoolscanusethemtoplan

forteacherprofessionaldevelopmentandtoimprovethecurriculum

andinstruction.

Continued: N E W S L E T T E R / W E B S I T E I T E M S

P O S T E R

ClickheretodownloadaCommon

Coreposter.Postinyourbreakroom

oruseasahandoutatemployeeor

communitymeetings.Youcanalso

haveaprofessionalprinterenlargeitfor

postingatameeting.

Achild’sscoreonnewtestswillNOTdeterminewhetherhe/shegoes

ontothenextgrade.However,theresultswillbecomparedovertime

tomeasureprogress.

Thisyear’stestresultsmayinitiallybelowerthanSTARresultsin

previousyears.Thisdoesn’tmeanthatstudentshavelearnedlessor

fallenbehind.Instead,itreflectsthehigherexpectationsunderthe

CommonCorelearningstandards.Theassessmentsarenew,asarethe

lessonplans.Itwilltakeabitoftimetoputthewholeprocessinplace.

Thegoalofthetestsistobetterunderstandhowchildrenlearnand

howschoolscanbetterpreparestudentstobemoresuccessfulin

highereducationandonthejob.

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What Makes a

21ST century

C REI N I T I A T I V E

COMMONSILICON VALLEY

Career ReadinessCalifornia’s core learning Standards prepare our kids for the careers they’ll be looking for when they graduate.

Conceptual LearningAs they deepen their learning, students begin to experiment and combine concepts in innovative ways.

Information ToolboxLearning to find, analyze and combine information in different ways is a key skill for 21st century jobs.

Tech ToolsComputers, iPads and digital media are tools that provide context to help students learn and think about their information in new ways.

LeaRneR?

Communicating IdeasStudents hone their communication skills through group learning and presentations in which they explain their ideas to others.

Scaffolded SupportTeachers, parents, and peers are all educational partners. They create the learning environment, introducing new tools and ingredients and inspire new challenges for the students.