Common Core State Standards:

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Common Core State Standards An Opportunity for
Progress
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Presentation Overview
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The Value of Education
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Are we challenging our students?
Source College Boards 2011 One Year Out
Study.
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Are we challenging our students?
Source http//www.act.org/research/policymakers/p
df/current_standards.pdf
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Are our current standards rigorous?

• 2007 The state of Georgia declared 88 of 8th
  graders proficient in reading, even though just
  26 scored at or above the proficiency level on
  the NAEP.
• 2007 If you believe those who set the Illinois
  standards, 82 percent of its 8th graders are
  proficient in reading, even though the NAEP says
  only 30 percent are.

Source lthttp//educationnext.org/few-states-set-w
orldclass-standards/gt
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Are our current standards rigorous?

• 2009 For example, on the 4th-grade math test in
  2009, West Virginia reported that 60.8 percent of
  its students had achieved proficiency, but 28.1
  percent were proficient on the NAEP.
• 2009 Delaware claimed that 77 percent of its
  4th-grade students were proficient in math, when
  NAEP shows that only 36 percent were.

Source lthttp//educationnext.org/state-standards-
rising-in-reading-but-not-in-math/gt
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Are we preparing our students?
Student achievement is drastically low. Our
nation is at a moment of crisis when it comes to
preparing our students for the rigors of college
and the demands of the increasingly global
workplace.
Source http//www.act.org/research/policymakers/c
ccr11/pdf/ConditionofCollegeandCareerReadiness2011
.pdf
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Are our current standards rigorous?

• What type of thinking is involved? Teachers
  assess by looking at the verb that appears in a
  standard.
• How deeply do you need to understand a topic to
  interact with the content being presented?
• What kinds of cognitive tasks are being asked of
  students? Simply recall a fact? Analyze a complex
  argument?

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Why do we need Common Standards?

• Low Levels of Rigor
• Current standards feature large amounts of
  knowledge and recall learning targets
• Under-developing critical thinking abilities
• Disadvantaged in college and the workplace

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Low-Rigor Standards
Source http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/s
tudies/2011458.pdf
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Fordham Institute Grades Standards

• 25 states have moved backwards in the quality of
  their standards from 2005 to 2010.
• 21 states ELA standards received D or F grades
  in terms of rigor and clarity.
• 18 states Mathematics standards received D or F
  grades.
• The vast majority of states have standards that
  scored lower than the Common Core.

Source http//www.edexcellence.net/publications/t
he-state-of-state-of-standards-and-the-common-core
-in-2010.html
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Why do we need Common Standards?

• Lack of Clarity
• Write for a variety of purposes.
• Respond to variety of literary/informational
  texts.
• Competently use money.
• Are these standards clear to teachers, students,
  and parents?

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Why do we need Common Standards?

• Inconsistencies
• Different states set different learning targets
• Different districts set different learning
  targets
• Different classrooms learning different topics
• We must expect high achievement from all students
  in all classrooms

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Results of Inconsistencies

• States requiring different content
• Cut scores for proficiency vary by state
• Students being taught and assessed at different
  levels of rigor based on location
• Students who move may be far ahead or far behind
• Large groups of students are disadvantaged in the
  national and global economies

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Why do we need Common Standards?

• Barriers to Collaboration
• Educators are not working from the same
  blueprints
• Chilling effect on the sharing of best practices
• Curricular materials not applicable to all places
• This creates an insular education community where
  everyone is doing the same work over and over
  again

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What is the Common Core?

• A set of clear, consistent, internationally-benchm
  arked K-12 standards in English Language Arts and
  Mathematics that will provide a clear and
  consistent framework to prepare our students for
  college and the workplace.
• CCSSI Video

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What is the Common Core?

• An effort led by the National Governors
  Association, the Council of Chiefs of State
  Schools, ACT, Achieve, College Board, and many
  other groups that created standards voluntarily
  adopted by states.

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How are Common Core Standards better?

• Increased complexity of texts
• Focus on foundational math skills and application
  in novel real-world situations
• A return to depth as opposed to breadth
• Increased focus on justifying and presenting
  results and methods
• Critical reading and writing infused in all
  curricular areas
• Re-ordering of math content to reflect
  research-based path to college and career
  readiness

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• Our current standards are low in rigor and do not
  emphasize the reasoning skills necessary for
  college and career success.

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Imagine

• you own a company with fifty different stores.
  If each had its own goals and objectives and
  approached them in different ways, would your
  company be able to implement your vision?

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Benefits of Common Core

• Preparation
• The CCSS will prepare students for both college
  and the workplace and emphasizes higher-order
  skills instead of knowledge and recall.

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Benefits of Common Core

• Competition
• The CCSS are internationally-benchmarked,
  ensuring that our students are prepared to be
  competitive in the global job market.

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Benefits of Common Core

• Equity
• The Common Core will foster consistent
  expectations not dependent on state or zip code.
  We will hold all students to high academic
  expectations.

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Benefits of Common Core

• Clarity
• The Common Core are focused, coherent, and clear
  standards. Everyone knows what is expected of our
  students.

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Benefits of Common Core

• Collaboration
• CCSSI will be a foundation for teachers, states,
  and districts to work together from the same
  blueprints. This will facilitate the sharing of
  best practices.

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Implementation Progress

• 45 states have voluntarily adopted the Common
  Core, as well as the District of Columbia, the
  U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana
  Islands.

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Implementation Progress

• States and territories who have not yet adopted
  Alaska, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Virginia,
  Puerto Rico, Guam.

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Adoption is just the beginning

• The work of implementation will determine whether
  or not the Common Core positively impacts student
  achievement in our nation.

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Implementation Curriculum

• The CCSSO has convened the publishing community
  to ensure that high-quality instructional
  materials aligned to the Common Core are being
  created.

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Implementation Assessment
Diagnostic and interim assessments (optional) Most assessments are traditional pencil and paper Results available to schools in two-to-four weeks Support for both traditional and integrated math course sequences Field testing begins 2012, operational by 2014 Diagnostic and interim assessments (optional) Assessments are computer-adaptive Most results are available instantly, though some items may require human grading Reports link directly to professional development and research-based strategies for instruction Field testing begins 2013, operational by 2015
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Frequently Asked Questions

• I thought there was local control over what was
  taught. Who gave the state the right to change
  our curriculum?

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Is the Common Core State Standards Initiative the
  first step of a federal take-over of our
  education system?

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Frequently Asked Questions

• If our schools are performing poorly now with
  low-rigor standards, whats going to happen when
  the standards get tougher??

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What questions can parents ask now to ensure that
  the Common Core gets properly implemented in
  their district?

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What can schools do to keep parents informed
  about changes to the standards?
• Parent Guides to Student Success

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What questions do you have?
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For more information contact David Musselwhite,
Michigan PTA david.musselwhite_at_gmail.com 478-718-1
683 Lee Ann Kendrick, National
PTAlkendrick_at_pta.org571-329-9365