Transitioning to Common Core: It’s Not About Common Core

Transitioning to Common Core: It’s Not About Common Core Robert Schwartz Senior Advisor, New Teacher Center Board Member, Lighthouse Community Charter Guild Master, Hacker Scouts

The views expressed during these 90 minutes are my own and do not reflect the views of the New Teacher Center, Lighthouse, or any other entity I may or may not be affiliated with. While I speak as if my views are factual, I recognize (and so should you) that they are highly editorialized. With that said, my assertions are research-based and reflect my almost 20 years in public education and in my role as a parent. Disclaimer

Learning Objectives • Understand how standards can be incorporated into a wider model of curriculum, instruction, and assessment • Begin to identify “what’s really important” to your class/school/community • Reflect on the history of the standards movement and its impact on curriculum and instruction

Agenda • Why Common Core State Standards? • The Opportunity CCSS Presents • Creating Larger Learning Goals • Mapping School-wide Goals • Impact of Goals on Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Let’s Begin – How We’ve Come to Common Core

A series of federal mandates culminating in NCLB created a high stakes environment States created academic content standards, standards based testing systems, and public accountability indices Districts focused professional development, curriculum and instruction, and benchmark assessments to maximize success on accountability metrics Teachers narrowed the curriculum and instructional strategies used in order to show success on district benchmarks and statewide mandated testing Students, particularly those in urban districts, no longer had access to rigorous curriculum and relevant instruction, necessary to participate in the new global society Broadfoot, (2000); Darling-Hammond, (2004); Karp, (2004); Kantor & Lowe, (2006); DeLorenzo, et. al. (2009); Wagner, (2008)

Turn and talk Pick an elbow partner. Spend 3 minutes discussing whether or not this is true for your classroom/school. Is this necessarily a bad thing?

The narrowing had negative ramifications for students’ futures

Common Core State Standards were born to address some of these gaps

So now, everyone is going Common Core crazy

Are you?

Do you ever feel like this? State/District Policy Federal Policy Business Community Your Teachers Your Students Publishers

There are many hopes about Common Core and what is going to happen In reality:

Move and talk Get up and find someone you do not know. Spend 5 minutes talking with them about: 1. Your greatest hopes with Common Core 2. Your greatest worries with Common Core

So let’s step back and ask ourselves What does our school and community value? Forget about Common Core for a bit

Complete this sentence in at least 5 different ways: “When students leave our school, they should be able to…” Spend 10 minutes by yourself or with others from your school to ask yourself this. Jot down as close to 5 different ways as possible. *Reminder: Forget about Common Core for a bit

One example: View Park Prep Charter High School When students leave our school, they will be able to: • Write a sustained case of 1500 words free of mechanical error in a readable style • Actively participate in a Socratic dialogue, referencing multiple primary and secondary documents to advance their argument. • Solve multi-step problems and be able to describe, with accuracy, the methodology • Work as a productive team member to apply concepts from multiple disciplines in solving real-world problems • Exhibit kindness, resiliency, and self-direction as a learner capable of thriving in any environment.

We examined frameworks for defining success as part of an iterative process

Selected aspects and the standards were mapped as part of a larger plan

Because, Common Core alone is not a sufficient curriculum Intended Curriculum State Standards 21st Century Skills Implemented Curriculum Rigor Relevance Relationships Attained Curriculum Globally Competent Citizens Statewide Assessments

When we forget about the Implemented and Attained Curriculums Intended Curriculum State Standards Implemented Curriculum Attained Curriculum Statewide Assessments

Given your larger school goals, does Common Core miss anything? *Reminder: This will narrow after SmarterBalanced debuts

Map your larger school goals to Common Core • Take 10 minutes. Examine your goals. Where do they fit within the broad concepts of Common Core. • Do some of your goals not fit? How would you address that? • Does Common Core address something you believe your school/community does not value? How would you address that?

Reflection and wrap-up If I was in charge of writing Common Core or Smarter Balanced, I would make sure to…

Transitioning to Common Core: It’s Not About Common Core