MAKE THE CASE: Supporting a College- and Career-Ready America

2. MAKE THE CASE: Supporting a College- and Career-Ready America

3. The facts are simple: • Not enough students graduate from high school. • Those who do are unprepared for college and the workforce. • Students are not gaining the critical-thinking, communications and problem-solving skills they need to succeed in the real world. • Supporting a College- and Career-Ready America

4. These challenges impact U.S. businesses’ ability to find qualified talent in an increasingly competitive global economy. • Supporting a College- and Career-Ready America

5. Nearly every state is building a better and stronger academic foundation to prepare all students for college, careers and life. • New college- and career-ready standards raise expectations for all students and provide the academic foundation on which successful science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education should be built. • Supporting a College- and Career-Ready America

6. MAKE THE CASE: Supporting the STEM Pipeline

7. Companies are competing for a limited number of STEM graduates. • We must secure our nation’s future by supporting high-quality STEM education to prepare a skilled workforce and strengthen U.S. competitiveness. • Supporting the STEM Pipeline

8. Promoting STEM education — anchored in college- and career-ready standards — nurtures a skilled workforce, widens the pool of desired job applicants and strengthens U.S. competitiveness. • Supporting the STEM Pipeline 2 Business Higher Education Forum. 2011. Creating the Workforce of the Future: The STEM Interest and Proficiency Challenge. http://www.bhef.com/sites/g/files/g829556/f/brief_2011_stem_inerest_proficiency.pdf 3 U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. 2011. STEM: Good Jobs Now and fro the Future. http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/documents/stemfinalyjuly14_1.pdf

9. Academic standards provide the necessary foundation upon which the rest of the system can be built. • New standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), engage students at all levels – starting in the early grades – and encourage them to apply their knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems. • Implementing science standards will help build a more robust STEM pipeline by preparing more high school graduates for the rigors of science-based college courses and careers. • Supporting the STEM Pipeline

10. MAKE THE CASE: Keeping Our International Advantage

11. Our education system simply has not been keeping up with mounting competition from developed and developing countries. • U.S. educational achievement rates are staying flat. • Keeping Our International Advantage

12. Our education system can’t compete internationally unless we set the right expectations and goals for them. Standards, such as the CCSS in mathematics and the NGSS, provide the necessary foundation. • Keeping Our International Advantage 1National Science Foundation. 2012. Science and Engineering Indicators.Table 2-33. www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/c0/appendix.htm#c4

13. IN DEPTH: College- and Career-Ready Standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy

14. What Are “Standards”? • Standards are the “what”: • They define the desired outcomes of instruction in English language arts/literacy, mathematics and science. • Curriculum provides the “how”: • States, districts, schools and teachers determine the instructional approaches and materials to teach the standards.

15. College- and Career-Ready Standards: Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy • Academic standards set the foundation for our schools. While state standards historically have been inconsistent and unfocused — and not anchored in real-world expectations — 46 states and Washington, D.C., have taken a step forward by adopting the CCSS in mathematics and English language arts/literacy.

16. Standards for Mathematical Practice, or mathematical “habits of mind,” that foster reasoning, problem solving, perseverance, decision making and engagement among students. • A sharper focus on key topics in each grade to allow educators and students to go deeper into the content and students to better understand concepts and tackle more complex content as they progress. • An emphasis on mathematical modeling — the use of mathematics and statistics to analyze economic, social and everyday situations and make informed decisions. College- and Career-Ready Standards: Key Advances in Mathematics

17. College- and Career-Ready Standards: Key Advances in English Language Arts/Literacy • A balance between literature and informational texts to reflect reading demanded in college and on the job. • Speaking and listening expectations, applied through presentations and group work. • An emphasis on explanatory writing, including writing using evidence and examples from sources. • Literacy standards for science, history and technical subjects to enable students to read and write in a wider range of contexts.

18. College- and Career-Ready Standards: Mathematics and English Literacy • To ensure that all students have greater opportunities and access to the careers of their choice, we need a K–12 education system that imparts the knowledge and skills most valued by employers and higher education. • While standards alone are no silver bullet, they provide the necessary foundation upon which the rest of the system should be built. • The CCSS will aim to help all students graduate from high school with the core academic skills and knowledge needed to excel in college and the workplace.

19. IN DEPTH: Assessing the CCSS

20. How Will Students Be Assessed on the CCSS? • The new assessments are being developed by two state-led consortia: • Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) • Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) • The new computer-based assessments aligned to the CCSS will be first administered in fall 2014 for grades 3–8 and in high school.

21. Two State Consortia Developing Assessments for the CCSS: PARCC and SBAC SBAC PARCC

22. IN DEPTH: College- and Career-Ready Standards in Science

23. College- and Career-Ready Standards: NGSS • Academic standards set the foundation for our schools. While state science standards historically have been inconsistent, unfocused and non-rigorous — and not anchored in real-world expectations — 26 states took a step forward by developing the NGSS.

24. College- and Career-Ready Standards: NGSS • The integration of rigorous content and application to reflect how science is practiced in the real world — and on the job in STEM occupations. • A focus on a few disciplinary core ideas to ensure coherence within and across grades. • A clear set of expectations for how scientific knowledge and engineering applications intersect across the disciplines.

25. College- and Career-Ready Standards: NGSS • We need new science standards that stimulate and build interest in STEM education. • While standards alone are no silver bullet, they provide the necessary foundation upon which the rest of the science (and STEM) education system can be built. • The NGSS aim to help all students graduate from high school with the scientific skills and knowledge needed to excel in the workplace, in turn leading to more STEM-ready employees at all levels.

26. How Can I Support My Child’s Learning? • Refer to the PTA parent guides on the CCSS: http://pta.org/parents/content.cfm?ItemNumber=2910. • Talk with your child and ask questions about what he/she is learning. • Actively communicate with your child’s teachers about how he/she is integrating the new standards into the classroom. • Be patient: The new standards are more rigorous and will introduce a new way of teaching, so the assessment results will reflect higher expectations.

27. How Can My Company Support College- and Career-Ready Standards? • There are numerous ways to strategically and effectively support college- and career-ready standards implementation and sustainability. • Your company can be an advocate for the new standards and related reforms by: • Getting informed on the issues; • Making the connection between the reforms and your workforce needs; • Engaging your leadership; • Engaging your employees; • Engaging policymakers; or • Engaging your local business coalition.