NC Common Core State Standards Summit

1. NC Common Core State Standards Summit Presented in partnership with North Carolina ASCD, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and the Council of Chief State School Officers November 8, 2011 Grandover Resort, Greensboro, NC Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

2. Purpose • Collaborate with colleagues to assess state and local needs. • Share successful implementation strategies and practices from national and North Carolina colleagues. • Understand the importance of a whole child approach to education in setting the foundation for success from kindergarten through college and career choices. • Begin the creation of an effective communication plan to bring awareness of the Common Core State Standards to community stakeholders.

3. Opening Session • Welcome by Dr. Rodney Shotwell, President NCASCD and Superintendent, Rockingham County Schools: • “No matter where you live, or what your zip code is, we will be teaching the same thing. There will be a deeper understanding of math.” • Comments by Dr. June Atkinson, State Superintendent: • “Through Common Core, we can share information, materials and resources across states. Common Core helps us to answer how we will be able to implement what the students need to know.”

4. Part I • Common Core State Standards: • The Foundation for North Carolina • Student Success

5. Overview of Part I • How the Common Core Standards came to be, how they will be assessed, and how we will hold everyone accountable.

6. RttT allows us to have a very comprehensive roll-out for our new standards.

7. The Common core standards are not: • How teachers teach • All that can or should be taught • The nature of advanced work beyond core • Interventions needed for students well below grade level

8. Math • James B. Hunt , Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy • http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHuntInstitute#g/u • 30 videos that explain the math standards in great depth

9. National PTA Common Core Parent Guide • http://www.pta.org/common_core_state_standards.asp

10. New Assessments • Are in the process of being developed. States have a choice between PARCC and SMARTER Balanced. NC is using SMARTER Balanced. • Moving away from multiple-choice to short answer.

11. Prior assessments were only summative. • There is a new balanced assessment vision.

12. EOGs will continue • 2 end-of-course assessments at the HS level • PLAN (writing assessment) administered in 10th grade • ACT administered in 11th grade (March 6 with make-up March 20)

13. Accountability • There will be an allowance for local districts to make their own accountability models, as they know their district best.

14. Most accountability models roll out in 2012. • NC applying for ESEA waiver in February. If awarded, it will require us to demonstrate college-ready and hold teachers accountable.

15. RttT will make all NC Essential Standards and Common Core classes measured! (Measures of Student Learning-MSL)

16. RESA (Regional Education Service Agency) is on board for the next 3 years to provide professional development and fidelity checks along the way.

17. Breakout sessions • ELA • Resources needed for implementation: • Appendices • Unpacking tools • Crosswalks • Professional development • PLCs • Technology • Videos showing best practice

18. Textbooks aligning with text complexity • Free resources to close achievement gap (Southern Poverty Law Center ) • http://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/teaching-tolerance • Exemplars of teaching units • Time • Backwards mapping • Databases of resources • Knowledge of assessments • Wikispaces.net • Training module that will train new teachers that will come after us • Available webinars

19. Tools needed for implementation: • Knowledge on how to use rubrics • Guidelines • Benchmarks • Standards for uniformity • One resource in the nation for teachers to access lesson plans

20. Strategies needed for implementation • SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol-developed to make content material comprehensible to English Language Learners) • Training and resources • Professional development • Deep understanding to facilitate strategies

21. Technology available (needed) in the classroom: • Students “getting their hands dirty” with technology • Blogging • Message board • Assessment • IPads • Digital cameras • Skype to promote global awareness • Reassessment of acceptable use policies • Inequities of district/school availability of technology should be addressed

22. Part II • Moving From the What To the How

23. Sheridan Britt, ASCD Director of Professional Development • Tools For Teachers: Helps teachers turn “what” into “how.” Digital application for teachers effective in March 2012. • Formative assessment lessons. Will allow secondary teachers (grades 7-12) to stop for a few days to see where students are. • Literacy tools • Hands-on math tools

24. Angela Quick, NCDPI, Deputy Chief Academic Officer, Academic Services and Instructional Support • How do we assess and what do we do with the data we receive? • We have to get from the new core standards to where we have students who graduate high school career and college ready. In 2014-15 the consortium will release their assessments.

25. Assessments: now • Each state procures its own assessment system • Proficiency varies greatly from state to state • Most assessments are multiple choice • Results come quickly • Accommodations for special populations vary • Most administered on paper (costly, time-consuming and a challenge to maintain security)

26. New north Carolina assessment system • Formative NC Falcon • Interim – Benchmark (State or SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium in 2014) • Summative • End-of-year • Standardized

27. delivery • Online in 2014-15 • Science grades 5 & 8 • English II EOC • Biology and Algebra I EOC • Paper/Pencil (online version) • General LEA grades 3-8 • Prioritization of content standards will include teacher input • Item types: Online, both online and paper/pencil • Math: Gridded response. Student will no longer choose a, b, c, or d. If the answer is 15, they will bubble 1 and 5.

28. timeline • 2011-2012 Field tests • 2012-13 Operational assessments • Performance standards set after tests administered • Results delayed until early fall

29. We are building an instructional improvement system with the data we receive. • There will be instructional resources for teachers as well as student exemplars showing high mastery of standards. • All of this will be housed in The Cloud!

30. The Cloud • Instructional design, practice, and resources • Assessment and growth • Data dashboards • Data analysis and reporting • Professional development

31. Through Scalable Link Interface (SLI) , we will be partnering with other states to share resources!

32. Sandra Alberti, Student Achievement Partners • Instructional Implications of the Common Core Standards: • Standards are expected of ALL students

33. What needs to change • ELA/Literacy • Regular practice with complex text and its vocabulary • Building knowledge through content-rich non-fiction and informational text. This can balance the loss of time in other subjects due to the 90 minute literacy block most schools have adopted • Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text

34. Math Shifts: • Focus strongly where the standards focus • Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics • Rigor: Require fluency, application, and deep understanding • No more “glazing” over what students do not understand

35. Role of principals and asst. principals • Provide teachers with information about LEA rollout plan • Cheerleader for teachers providing support during transition • Provide information or resources as teachers implement Common Core Standards • Provide opportunities for collaboration • Provide information for parents

36. Strategies for school administrators • Provide resource center for teachers • Create positive collaboration groups (PLCs) • Host curriculum nights for parents

37. What does all of this mean for our students?

38. World-Class education!