Status Report on NC Race to the Top (RttT)

Implementation & Reform Agenda

Briefing for NCASCD

Dr. Rebecca Garland, Chief Academic OfficerNCDPI

February 8, 2012

How will classrooms change?

Instruction will help students achieve the standards; Assessments will be

meaningful and will help students and teachers;

Students will be taught different and better content and skills

Standards Instruction and AssessmentsEducators will be meaningfully evaluated; Schools will be held accountable for graduating students ready for college and career

Evaluation & Accountability

“Clearer and Higher Expectations”

Common Core in ELA and Math• ex Focus on

informational reading and writing

• ex More real-world application in math

Essential Standards• ex Physical science

in early grades

Instructional Improvement System • A one-stop landing spot for

instructional resources and assessments to help teachers diagnose need using data

• Support of formative assessment practices

• Learning mapsSummative Assessments• New State Assessments

(12-13 & 13-14)• SMARTER Balanced (14-15)

o Computer Adaptive Testingo Performance Tasks

Teacher Evaluation• Evaluation based built on

meaningful discussions and focused on practice improvement for all

• Inclusion of a measure of student growth in all evaluations

• Professional Development Initiative to improve practice

New Accountability Model• Based on College and Career Ready

Expectations - including the ACT/PLAN/EXPLORE suite

• Updated data reporting• Flexibility around No Child Left

Behind (in progress)

Overview

• Common Core Implementation• New Assessments – NC; SBAC• Explore, Plan, ACT – College

Career Promise• Transition Courses• Instructional Improvement

System• Accountability & ESEA

Flexibility• Teacher Effectiveness

Initiatives

Goal of RttT: Advance Core Education

Reforms

College- and career-ready standards and high quality, valid, and reliable assessments for all

students, including ELLs and students with disabilities

Pre-K to higher education data systems that meet the principles in the America COMPETES Act

Teacher effectiveness and equitable distribution of effective

teachers

Intensive support and effective interventions for lowest-

performing schools

RttT Overall Goals (by June 2014)

Overall RttT Goals

Increase the high school graduation rate

Produce more career-, college- and future-ready graduates, as measured by performance on the SAT, ACT, Accuplacer, Compass, and other relevant assessments

Increase the number of graduating seniors who complete challenging capstone courses, including AP and IB

DPI Goal?

SBE Goal?

Gov.'s goal?

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3

2

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In process – currently refining metric targets

RttT Overall Goals (by June 2014)

Overall RttT Goals

Increase achievement in all grades, as measured by state assessments, NAEP results, and other relevant indicators

Improve the 118 low-performing schools and 23 low-performing districts so they are all above the current low-performing criteria

Reduce the achievement gap by making larger gains for lower performing subgroups

DPI Goal?

SBE Goal?

Gov.'s goal?

4

6

5

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We are aligned on the goals for RttT and for NC over the next four years

In process – currently refining metric targets

Common Core Implementation

• Regional Institutes & Technical Support

• Toolkits & Online Modules• Local Initiatives• Partnerships

• Core to College• CCSSO

Common Core ELA Instructional Shifts

• Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts

• Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text

• Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary

Building Knowledge through content-rich nonfiction &

informational texts • Across History, Science &

Technical Subjects• Focus on Knowledge about

content• K-5 – 50/50 balance between

literary and informational texts

• 6-12 – more focus on non-fiction

Rationale: Workplace reading is informational

Reading & Writing Based in Evidence from Text

• Shift from Narrative Writing to persuasive and critical writing

• Not a focus on student’s experiences but analysis of what a student can read and understand from text

• Students should be able to answer text-specific questions, particularly inferences based on evidence from text

Regular Practice with complex text & its rich academic vocabulary

• Focus on text complexity and frequent practice will build a staircase to career and college level reading

• Focus on academic vocabulary and multiple/nuanced word choice important in Common Core ELA

Shifts in Math Common Core

• Focus strongly where the standards focus

• Coherence: think across grades and link to major topics within grades

• Rigor: require conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application with intensity

Focus strongly where the standards focus

• Restrict instruction only to the

skills that are covered in the standards

• Students will gain strong foundational standards

• Many familiar activities will be erased from classroom instruction

Coherence: think across grades and link to major

topics within grades

• Learning progressions in math

- linking the same topics across grade spans

• Building on foundations – for example, linking multiplication & fractions across spans – not topic driven

• Nothing new but an extension of previous learning

• Nothing an end to itself

New Assessments 2012-2013

• New End-of-Grade Assessments in Reading and Mathematics in Grades 3-8

• New Science Assessments in Grades 5, 8, and Biology

• New End-of-Course in Algebra I/Integrated Math 1 & English II

New Assessments

2014-2015

Smarter Balanced Consortium Assessments on Common CoreGrades 3-8 and Grade 11

Assessment Vision

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K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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3-8 End-of-Grade Assessments High School End-of-Course Assessments

Measu

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Formative Assessment, Benchmark and

Continuous Checks for Understanding

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K-5

2/8/2012

Career and College Promise

• Dual Enrollment Program for Juniors & Seniors

• 3 Options – College Transfer, Career & Technical Certificate or Degree, Cooperative Innovative Program

• Eligibility & Continuation Requirements

CCP Eligibility & Continuation

• 3.0 Weighted GPA• And/Or Principal

Recommendation• Pre-requisites, including

testing requirements• 2.0 GPA for continuation• Must adhere to pathway

courses

CCP College Transfer Pathway

• Humanities and Social Sciences

• Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

• Life and Health Sciences• Business and Economics

CCP Career & Technical Pathway

• Aligned with CTE Clusters• Programs identified by

Community Colleges• Available online and on

campus• Programs approved by System

Office

And for those students not ready…

• Transition Courses through

SREB partnership of multiple states…funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

• Alignment with IHEs for remediation free upon successful completion of courses

Accountability

State and Federal

New State Accountability Model

K-8 – Based on performance &

growth on state assessmentsHigh School – Performance &

Growth on Graduation Rates; Assessments; ACT College Readiness; Math Rigor; Career Readiness

No School Designations – Reporting against standard

ESEA Federal Flexibility Principles

• College and Career Expectations for all students

• State-Developed Differentiated Recognition, Accountability, and Support

• Supporting Effective Instruction and Leadership

• Reducing Duplication and Unnecessary Burden

ESEA Flexibility – Federal Accountability

• Setting New AMOs• Decreasing Achievement Gaps by

50% over seven years• Same benchmarks for sub-

groups across stateEx. 30% proficient; 70% gap;

reduce gap by 35%; growth 5% per year for 7 years

ESEA Flexibility

• Annual AYP report by subgroups• Priority, Focus and Reward

Schools• Local flexibility around sanctions• Local flexibility around extended

learning opportunities• Federal negotiations with states