Beyond the Bubble: Achieving the Promise of the Common Core State Standards

1. Beyond the Bubble:Achieving the Promise of the Common Core State Standards Teresa Chance Northwest Arkansas Education Cooperative teresa@starfish.nwsc.k12.ar.us

2. The Great Adventure Artist: Steven Curtis Chapman • This is where you can download the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrrjbTc0urk

4. What should we be doing right now? • Learn! • Share! • Collaborate! • Clarify! • Prepare!

5. For example, begin building • “Students should next come to learn…” • “Domains” • “Clusters” • “Learning progressions” • “Through-year assessments” NEW VOCABULARY Examples:

6. On the Road to Implementation • Engage moral purpose • Build capacity • Understand the change process • Develop cultures for learning • Foster coherence making Adapted from 8 Forces of Change by Michael Fullan Source: Arkansas Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development - Tool 8.1

7. Did you know? By 2018, 63% of all jobs are expected to require postsecondary education. Currently only 26% of young adults (25-34) in the United States have college degrees. Source: Higher Ed

8. www.corestandards.org State-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) with assistance from Achieve, ACT, and the College Board (SAT)

9. Status of State Adoption of Common Core State Standards AR State Board of Education adopted on July 12, 2010

10. Why Common Core State Standards? • Too many students graduate from high school unprepared to succeed in college and/or 21st century careers. • Results? • puts students’ future opportunities at risk • has a harmful effect on our states’ and the nation’s economy “Expectations Gap” 10

11. Mission Statement 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 • Rigorous • Relevant to the real world

12. “Common Core State Standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the next step. “Excerpt from Common Core State Standards Document

13. Compass Check

14. First comes standards and then comes… Assessment!

15. NEXT GENERATION ASSESSMENTS

16. To develop assessments that don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity. What is the Goal of these Next Generation Assessments?

17. 2 Testing Consortia • Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) • Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) New assessments will be ready by 2014-2015

18. PARCC States

19. Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) • Twenty-five states and District of Columbia are included. • An award of $186 million has been granted to develop new assessments. • Arkansas is now a governing state. • Over 200 institutions of higher education are participating. • Work is being facilitated by ACHIEVE.

20. PARCC Summary http://www.achieve.org/PARCCsummary PARCC Grant Printer Warning: 277 pages! • http://www.fldoe.org/parcc/pdf/apprtcasc.pdf

21. ACHIEVEhttp://www.achieve.org/achievingcommoncore • Created in 1996 by nation’s governors • Independent, bipartisan, non-profit education reform organization • Based in D.C. • Helps states raise academic standards, graduation requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability

22. Key features in PARCC… http://www.achieve.org/PARCCsummary Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Highlights from the PARCC Summary

23. States will adopt common assessments and performance standards.

24. Assessment system will be anchored in college and career readiness.

25. Students will take parts of the assessment at key times during the year. “Through-course assessments”

26. Assessments will be computer based.

27. Assessments will include sophisticated items and performance tasks.

28. Compass Check

29. To develop assessments that don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity. Goal of Next Generation Assessments

46. Beyond the Bubble Tests: The Next Generation of Assessments Http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/ “I am convinced that this new generation of state assessments will be an absolute game-changer in public education.” ---Education Secretary Arne Duncan September 2, 2010

47. What else can we expect to see? • Science (draft by Fall 2011) • English Language Development Standards for ELLs (within 1 year) • Social Studies (within 2 years) • Arts (development may begin January 2011)

48. Intended Outcomes of PARCC Assessments • Report achievement based on clear expectations; ability to compare across state lines • Use results in school accountability determinations and educator evaluations • Integrate assessment system with standards, curriculum, resources, and professional work • Rapid use of data to guide instruction

49. What should we be doing right now? • Learn! • Share! • Collaborate! • Clarify! • Prepare!

50. “Standards and assessments are only the foundationupon which states will construct high-quality curriculum, professional development, and all the other pieces that will support teachers preparing to teach to these new standards and students learning at higher levels. ---Education Secretary Arne Duncan