assessing implementation of the common core state standards · into common core instruction and...

Assessing Alignment to the Common Core State Standards | 1

Assessing Implementation of the Common Core State Standards

Assessing Implementation of the Common Core State Standards | 1

The American Federation of Teachers strongly supports the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), believing they are the best path for a more consistent and focused set of standards that will allow students to be college and career ready. The AFT has supported the adoption and implementation of the standards through its recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee for Standards Rollout and by hosting conferences and workshops that support implementation of the CCSS. We recognize that states and districts have moved forward with implementing the standards with a variety of timelines and available resources. We believe implementation with proper supports is critical if we are to see the promise of the standards realized.

This document is intended to serve as a tool that will assist leaders and advocates in their implementation efforts by providing guidance that can drive the development of a high-quality implementation plan. This plan can be used to support efforts to make the standards a reality in their schools and classrooms.

This self-assessment tool can help the user determine:

• Whether the district’s current implementation efforts address critical components of a high-quality implementation plan;

• Whether critical components of implementation are missing from the plan and what components will need to be developed as implementation continues; and

• Whether implementation efforts support goals that are aligned with current reform efforts in the district or state.

We have attempted to include all critical components that may be taken into consideration when implementing the CCSS. There may be areas that are important and

unique to local circumstances that may not be included. You should incorporate those items to provide a more complete picture of implementation efforts for your local.

SCORINGThe components that follow are intended to guide conversations around implementation of the CCSS by assessing the extent to which it has taken place in your district. Indicate which of the following best describes the extent to which your district has engaged in each component:

PLANNINGFollowing each section, compile the number of times each indicator was selected. This will help determine which areas are strongest or require more support. You can use the guiding questions on the Implementation Planning Table (page 10) to prioritize critical components and develop a work plan. By inputting selected action items that received a or in the self-assessment, teams can develop plans to improve Common Core implementation. To effectively move implementation plans forward, you should build on strengths by selecting items with the greatest feasibility, and strengthen weaknesses by selecting items with the least feasibility.

Implementation, monitoring and making adjustments needs to be an ongoing process that evolves over time. Any plan needs to reflect the needs and address the challenges facing the educators within the system as well as include feedback.

Introduction

Not at all

Just started

Partially

Almost completely

Fully implemented

Cre

ate

bro

ad s

take

ho

lder

aw

aren

ess

of

the

CC

SS t

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ug

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ula

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mm

un

icat

ion

s

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llab

ora

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ly d

evel

op

a

sust

ain

able

pla

n f

or

imp

lem

enta

tio

n, t

o in

clu

de:

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alen

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of e

vent

s an

d ac

tions

• Ex

pect

atio

ns f

or a

ll st

akeh

olde

rs

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gula

r co

mm

unic

atio

n w

ith

stak

ehol

ders

• Pr

oces

s fo

r id

entif

ying

and

de

velo

ping

tea

cher

lead

ers

• Pr

oces

s fo

r tr

aini

ng s

taff

to

build

ca

paci

ty t

o su

stai

n th

e w

ork

• D

etai

led

budg

et

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tify

an

d t

rain

tea

cher

lead

ers

as C

om

mo

n C

ore

ad

voca

tes

and

as

trai

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s fo

r o

ther

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uca

tors

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ate

a R

eso

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e R

evie

w T

eam

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at w

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ruct

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to t

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CSS

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plem

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for:

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ime

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tow

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essi

onal

dev

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D)

acro

ss a

ll gr

ades

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scho

ols

• O

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tuni

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PD

• O

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addi

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llegi

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itie

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’ an

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ds

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dat

a to

info

rm in

stru

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sch

oo

l pra

ctic

e, a

nd

imp

lem

enta

-ti

on

po

licy

Co

mm

on

Co

re S

tate

Sta

nd

ard

s—Pla

nn

ing

to

Su

cceed

KEY

QU

ESTI

ON

S T

O C

ON

SID

ER

:

• W

hat

is th

e cu

rren

t aw

aren

ess

leve

l of t

each

ers,

ad

min

istr

ator

s,

par

ents

an

d th

e b

road

er

com

mu

nit

y?

• A

re s

take

hol

der

s bu

ildin

g a

cult

ure

that

su

pp

orts

the

imp

lem

enta

tion

of t

he

CC

SS?

• A

re s

tate

an

d lo

cal r

esou

rces

al

loca

ted

eq

uit

ably

acr

oss

the

dis

tric

t?

• D

o ed

uca

tors

hav

e ac

cess

to

hig

h-q

ual

ity

pro

fess

ion

al

dev

elop

men

t?

The

char

t in

dica

tes

step

s th

at s

hou

ld b

e ta

ken

chr

onol

ogic

ally

bu

t not

inde

pen

den

tly.

No

step

sho

uld

eve

r be

dee

med

com

plet

e.

On

goi

ng

awar

enes

s ca

mpa

ign

s an

d pl

ann

ing

sess

ion

s sh

ould

occ

ur

even

whi

le s

olic

itin

g fe

edba

ck o

n p

revi

ous

init

iati

ves.

34

PR

OFE

SSIO

NA

LD

EV

ELO

PM

EN

TIM

PLE

MEN

TATI

ON

AN

D F

EED

BA

CK

PLA

NN

ING

12

AW

AR

EN

ESS

The

K-1

2 C

omm

on C

ore

Stat

e St

and

ard

s (C

CSS

) p

rovi

de

an u

np

rece

den

ted

op

por

tun

ity—

and

ch

alle

nge

. In

ad

van

cin

g st

and

ard

s

for

mat

hem

atic

s an

d E

ngl

ish

lan

guag

e ar

ts, t

he

CC

SS h

ave

the

pot

enti

al to

hel

p tr

ansf

orm

the

very

DN

A o

f tea

chin

g an

d le

arn

ing.

A

s yo

u r

evie

w i

mp

lem

enta

tion

not

e th

e fo

llow

ing

qu

esti

ons

and

com

pon

ents

that

sh

ould

be

add

ress

ed.

ON

GO

ING

CO

MM

UN

ICA

TIO

N W

ITH

STA

KEH

OLD

ER

SST

AK

EHO

LDER

S: P

aren

ts, s

tud

ents

, tea

cher

s, b

usi

nes

s, c

om

mu

nit

y, la

bo

r, ci

vic

lead

ers,

med

ia, h

igh

er e

du

cati

on

fac

ult

y


ONGOING COMMUNICATION TO STAKEHOLDERS

Identifying and communicating with stakeholders builds the awareness of those who are vital for the implementation of the CCSS. Communication with stake-holders should be ongoing and two-way as implementation progresses.

Indicate the extent to which your district has:

Identified key stakeholders, for example:

Parents, students, civic leaders, faith-based leaders, politicians, labor, school board members, superintendents, media, business people, chamber of commerce members, and so forth.

Determined the messages that need to be communicated, for example:

Parents need to know that the goal of the Common Core State Standards is college and workforce readiness for all students. They need to know ways to help their children at home and resources they can access to learn more.

Union members and the district need to know that the CCSS are excellent for education because there are fewer and deeper standards. There was teacher involvement in generating and reviewing the standards. There is more student responsibility, and the standards level the playing field for all students, whether they are from affluent backgrounds or not. They create equity across educating all students.

Determined the methods for communication, for example:

Email, print, media (newspaper, radio), website.

Determined how often messages are revised and/or updated.

Assessing Implementation of the Common Core State Standards

KEY: Not at all Just started Partially Almost completely Fully implemented

In the box below, indicate the number of times you (or your group) circled each indicator in response to the extent to which your district has engaged in key components of Common Core Implementation:

ONGOING COMMUNICATION

Not at all Just started Partially Almost completely Fully implemented

4 | AFT

AWARENESS

Building on the foundation of stakeholder awareness, collaboratively develop-ing a sustainable plan for implementation helps to ensure the presence of a culture that supports the implementation of the CCSS.


Collaboratively developed a sustainable plan for implementation, to include events and actions, as well as answers to these questions:

What is the timeline for completing activities?

What are the tools/processes for monitoring progress?

Who is responsible?

How does this information get shared?

What is the process for revising the plan?

Collaboratively set expectations for stakeholders to:

Understand the definition of the phrase “college and career readiness.”

Know the importance of the instructional shifts for English Language Arts and Mathematics standards.

Advocate the importance of having proper CCSS implementation supports in place and the time needed to get this right to a variety of stakeholders.

Established a process for identifying and developing teacher leaders, which includes:

An application process;

A peer review process in which peers respond to a variety of questions regarding the applicant (different approaches can be used to select peers);

Training and professional development; and

A plan for expanding training to educators.



Created a detailed budget that reflects an assessment of resources and which:

Identifies what teachers are going to need but don’t currently have;

Identifies compensation for professional development (monetary, credits, time, etc.);

Provides transparency;

Reflects a collaborative approach.; and

Assesses need for realignment of allocated dollars.



AWARENESS


6 | AFT

PLANNING

Building on the awareness of the CCSS created with stakeholders, this planning stage establishes the materials, structures, and people that will be necessary to implement the standards.


Identified and trained teacher leaders as Common Core advocates for other educators.

Provided copies of the standards to every teacher, paraprofessional and other appropriate school support staff.

Developed a professional development plan that ensures sustainability and builds capacity.

Developed a professional development plan that includes all educators.

Created a resource review team that aligns existing instructional resources to the CCSS by:

Identifying the necessary tools to review instructional materials (AFT Alignment Tools for ELA/Math, achievethecore.org: EQUIP Rubric);

Establishing a process for communicating results to educators, including gaps that exist; and

Researching and identifying resources that are better aligned to the CCSS.

Examined school/district infrastructure for opportunities for common planning time collaboratively with school and district staff, such as:

Block scheduling;

Providing aides for nonacademic duties to allow time for staff to work collaboratively;

Examining ways to creatively structure the school day for collaborative time;

Scheduling community service time for middle/high school students that is tied to literacy/social studies standards; and

Requesting a waiver from the state for delayed start or early release once a month.1


1. “Finding Time for Collaboration,” by Mary Anne Raywid, Educational Leadership, vol. 51, no. 1, September 1993.


Reallocated professional development resources to focus on the Common Core in all grades at every school.

Identified time for teachers to have collegial conversations and review student work.

Integrated teacher supports for ELLs and special needs populations into Common Core instruction and professional development.

Identified instructional and social/emotional supports for ELLs and special needs populations

Coordinated Teacher Development and Evaluation policies with the Common Core standards.


PLANNING


8 | AFT

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Moving forward, professional development should include deliberate links between Teacher Development and Evaluation (TDE) and the Common Core (CC). Link-ing together the components used in the teaching domains helps teachers to become more thoughtful practitioners and builds on the foundation of good teaching prac-tices. CC implementation should not be viewed as an add-on to TDE.


Developed plans for job-embedded professional development.

Built capacity for internal training using teacher leaders, coaches, specialists.

Restructured staff meetings for professional development using teacher leaders.

Provided opportunities to deconstruct the standards and develop common understanding of their meaning.

Strengthened the “assessment literacy” of teachers, paraprofessionals, students, parents and school leaders, which should include:

Understanding sound assessment practices;

Describing the different types of assessment used to generate dependable student achievement information; and

Using data for intended purposes.

Identified methods for assessing the effectiveness of professional development.

Assured professional development is sustainable.

Assured professional development is accessible to all educators.

Offered professional development through a blended model of online, in person, and Professional Learning Communities (PLC).

Provided staff in nontested grades and subject areas with supports and training to implement Common Core strategies.

Included training opportunities to engage in cross-curricular planning and lesson development.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT



IMPLEMENTATION AND FEEDBACK

This process should be modeled as a continuous improvement process that evolves over time. This process will never be completed because the issues that need to be addressed will change.


Developed a process for collaboratively reviewing and revising its plan on an ongoing basis.

Created opportunities for teachers and paraprofessionals to refine skills and strategies by visiting one another’s classrooms to review quality instructional practices.

Requested continuous feedback on plans and processes from all educators and other stakeholders.

Developed a process for gathering, analyzing and sharing contextual data (data related to all aspects of the classroom, staffing, school and students) that informs decision making around school and district policies and instruction, and incorporates supports for sustainability.

Developed a process for gathering, analyzing and sharing student assessment data (summative and formative) that informs decision making around school and district policies and instruction, and incorporates supports for sustainability.


IMPLEMENTATION & FEEDBACK


10 | AFT

Imp

lem

en

tati

on

Pre

para

tio

n a

nd

Pla

nn

ing

Act

ion

Item

Step

sTi

mel

ine

Coor

dina

tor/

Pers

on

Resp

onsi

ble

Del

iver

able

s or

O

utco

me

Mea

sure

sSu

ppor

ts &

Re

sour

ces

1. 2.GU

IDIN

G Q

UES

TIO

NS

Ass

ess:

Whe

re a

re w

e n

ow?

Goa

l Set

tin

g: W

here

do

we

wan

t to

be?

Iden

tify

Nee

ds:

Wha

t is

nec

essa

ry to

get

to o

ur

goal

s?

Det

erm

ine

Feas

ibil

ity:

Giv

en c

urr

ent c

apac

ity,

str

uct

ure

s,

pol

icie

s, a

nd

reso

urc

es h

ow fe

asib

le is

this

goa

l?

Usi

ng

the

guid

ing

qu

esti

ons,

pri

orit

ize

area

s an

d d

evel

op a

wor

k p

lan

that

we

join

tly

imp

lem

ent f

rom

the

self-

asse

ssm

ent d

ocu

men

t. B

uild

on

cu

rren

t str

engt

hs

and

nat

ura

l sh

ort t

erm

op

por

tun

itie

s as

yo

u id

enti

fy a

ctio

n it

ems.


Act

ion

Item

Step

sTi

mel

ine

Coor

dina

tor/

Pers

on

Resp

onsi

ble

Del

iver

able

s or

O

utco

me

Mea

sure

sSu

ppor

ts &

Re

sour

ces

1. 2. Act

ion

Item

Step

sTi

mel

ine

Coor

dina

tor/

Pers

on

Resp

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ble

Del

iver

able

s or

O

utco

me

Mea

sure

sSu

ppor

ts &

Re

sour

ces

3. 4.

For more information please contact:

Lisa DickinsonPhone: 202-393-8635Fax: 202-393-7483E-mail: [email protected]

Jasmine GaryPhone: 202-879-4459Fax: 202-393-6371E-mail: [email protected]

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