Common Core

An introduction and FAQ to the changes in New York State

Learning Standards- K. Crowley

Shout - outs• Yeah

• Good job• Your awesome• High Five

• You’re the best• Amazing• Rock on• Keep it up• Great work

Who, What, When, Where, Why

The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.

Who• All schools in NYC and the state of New York

What• Presently, the Common Core addresses the

following • Mathematics standards• Literacy Standards• Literacy through Content (including technology)

• It does not yet address – • ELL education• Special Education modifications

• Specific Social Studies and Science standards

When• Tentatively speaking – the time line for Common Core

implementation is as follows – • Summer 2010 – Summer intensive training on Common Core

for school staff• 2010 – 2011 School administration and support staff provide

no less then two experiences with the Core Standards • 2011 – 2012 – Core Standards begin to phase in and State

Standards in Literacy and Math phase out• 2012 – 2013 – Core Standards take over.• 2014 – 2015 – State Assessments align to Common Core

through a new administration of testing know as PARCC or Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers

Where• New York adopted the Common Core

Standards on July 19th 2010. • 35 other states have adopted the

Common Core curriculum including New Jersey, Connecticut, and California.

• Some notable states that have yet to adopt the curriculum include Texas, Virginia, and Alaska

Why• In order to qualify for funding (or more

specifically to get more points) for the race for the top funding New York State needed to align standards to at least two other states. The best way to do this was Common Core Standards.

So what does this mean -

There are still many questions that do not have answers – For example we don’t know if New York will align State Assessments before 2014 – 2015We also don’t know if the standards will change in Science and Social Studies

For math specifically - There are fewer topics and more generalizing and linking of concepts– This method is well aligned with the way high-

achieving countries teach mathEmphasis on both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency starting in the early grades– More time to teach and reinforce core concepts form

K – 12– Some concepts will now be taught later

Focus on mastery of complex concepts in high math (i.e. – algebra and geometry) via hands on learningEmphasis on mathematical modeling in the upper grades.

For literacy specifically - Standards increase in complexity from K – 12 helping to articulate what students need to know and be able to do along with trajectory and assist with differentiation– Teachers form K – 12 will need to focus on the same higher order

skills and apply them in increasingly complex ways over time

Literacy-building as a shared responsibility for all content area teachers– Teacher s in Science and Social Studies will be reguired to gain

expertise around literacy development– Teachers will need to be more deliberate about choosing a wide

array of reading materials.

Emphasis on teaching reading of informational text– College and work demand that students read and analyze

information text from various sources. Because of this there is more emphasis on teaching these skills.

For literacy specifically - Emphasis on steadily increasing students’ ability to understand more and more complex text over time.Integration of research skills across standards and grades– The information processing demands of our modern society and

the vast amount of information being produced on a daily basis, we can no longer wait until the upper grades to teach our students how to conduct research papers and write to inform and persuade.

Emphasis on writing to argue, inform, and explain in the upper grades to prepare students for college level writing– Teacher are not told “how to get there,” only where to go.

NEXT STEPS

Break into content teams & create a chart and include•Noticings•Findings•Disappointments, •What is missing (in your opinion)•What is new, •Questions•ConcernsWe will then share out!