Overview

Common Core State Standards Initiative

our mission

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 and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.

What are educational standards?

Educational standards help teachers ensure their students have the skills and knowledge they need to be successful by providing clear goals for student learning.

Why do we need educational standards?

We need standards to ensure that all students, no matter where they live, are prepared for success in postsecondary education and the workforce. Common standards will help ensure that students are receiving a high quality education consistently, from school to school and state to state. Common standards will provide a greater opportunity to share experiences and best practices within and across states that will improve our ability to best serve the needs of students.

Standards do not tell teachers how to teach, but they do help teachers figure out the knowledge and skills their students should have so that teachers can build the best lessons and environments for their classrooms. Standards also help students and parents by setting clear and realistic goals for success. Standards are a first step – a key building block – in providing our young people with a high-quality education that will prepare them for success in college and work. Of course, standards are not the only thing that is needed for our children’s success, but they provide an accessible roadmap for our teachers, parents, and students.

What are the Common Core Standards


The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) are pleased to present the final Kindergarten-12 Common Core State Standards documents that our organizations have produced on behalf of 48 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia. These English language arts and mathematics standards represent a set of expectations for student knowledge and skills that high school graduates need to master to succeed in college and careers.

http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards

History


The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is an effort designed to improve educational outcomes for students by developing a set of common, voluntary, internationally-benchmarked academic standards in mathematics and English language arts. For more details, check out the CCSSI overview. 

  • The CCSSI is a state-led effort designed to improve educational outcomes for students by developing a set of consistent, clear K-12 academic standards in English language arts and mathematics. In 2009 the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the coordinators of the initiative, convened a group of leading experts to develop K-12 standards for math and English language arts in 2010. These standards are relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills young people need to be prepared for both college and work in a global economy.

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Education Board adopts Common Core standards to keep Massachusetts students national leaders in education

Massachusetts educators and staff were integral in drafting of standards to increase expectations for students in the Commonwealth and across the country

MALDEN - The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education cited the increased academic rigor and stronger expectations for student performance when it voted 8-0 to adopt the Common Core Standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics on Wednesday, making Massachusetts the 27th state to adopt the internationally benchmarked academic standards that promise to keep the Commonwealth's students national leaders in education. The Common Core Standards will continue to be assessed through the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), ensuring that all Massachusetts students continue to achieve at the highest levels in the nation and preparing them to succeed in the global economy.
Launched in June 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative is designed to develop and implement a single set of national standards in ELA and math to define what every student should know and be able to do in order to be fully ready for post-secondary education or a successful career. Massachusetts played a leading role in the development and review of the standards over the past 13 months. Curriculum experts and educators from across the Commonwealth reviewed and submitted comments on drafts that were incorporated throughout the development process to ensure that the expectations set in the final versions met or exceeded the state's strong standards for students.
"Today's vote is a strong statement of the Board's commitment to keeping Massachusetts competitive in the global economy," said Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Chair Maura Banta. "I am very grateful to all the professionals who provided the Board with such a thorough and thoughtful analysis. We look forward to your continued contribution as we identify unique Massachusetts standards that should be added to the Common Core."
"All along, the conversation about Common Core has been about the Commonwealth seizing the opportunity to improve upon our already high standards," said Education Secretary Paul Reville. "Today's action ensures that Massachusetts will continue to be the recognized leader not only in performance but in setting the direction for nation's future education reforms."
"Adopting the Common Core standards allows us to retain our standing as a state that holds all students to high academic expectations. These standards will spur academic achievement in the classroom," said Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester. "This decision also puts us right where we should be – at the table with other states to collaborate on innovative curricular and instructional strategies that will benefit students and educators for years to come."
The Common Core standards were developed using the most effective academic standards from across the country and around the world. These standards are designed to provide teachers and parents with a common understanding of what all elementary and secondary school students are expected to learn. The standards are aligned with expectations that define the knowledge and skills needed for success in college and and/or workforce training programs. They are designed to drive high quality instruction in the nation's classrooms. The standards include rigorous content and build on strengths and lessons of the state's current standards.
The Board has discussed the standards at four previous meetings over the course of the past year. BESE sought public comment while engaging department staff, outside experts, district curriculum leaders and teachers in a process involving analysis and feedback.
The standards were also fully vetted, reviewed and approved by national organizations including Achieve, Inc., which called them "a significant advance over current state standards," and the Fordham Foundation. The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE), in a side-by-side analysis comparing the state's current standards to the Common Core, deemed that Common Core "meets the business community's objective of enhancing the college and career readiness of our students."
In addition, external review teams of Massachusetts educators and academics assembled by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education did their own analysis of both the Common Core and the state's academic standards and found them to be of equal quality and strength. Both teams recommended adoption of the Common Core standards. In their final review, the team that reviewed the ELA standards noted that the Common Core document "bespeaks an abiding belief in high academic achievement through the pursuit of the best possible educational praxis."
Among the strengths officials highlighted as distinguishing factors within the Common Core:
  • The focus on reading and writing across the curriculum
  • The attention to speaking, listening and vocabulary
  • The consideration of emerging new literacies (such as digital and print sources) for research and communication
  • The treatment of varying student needs and achievement levels in the delivery of the math curriculum
Two former commissioners of education, Robert Antonucci and David Driscoll, who were responsible for the design and implementation of the Education Reform Act of 1993 and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) this week voiced support for Common Core based on the academic rigor set forth in the standards. Likewise, former Boston Public Schools Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant encouraged the Board to adopt the standards based on the value added to the state's current high expectations.
Business leaders also this week announced their backing of the new, higher standards. In addition to MBAE, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Progressive Business Leaders Network and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable all encouraged the Board to adopt Common Core based on their review of the standards and conclusion of the strong academic foundation contained within both the math and English Common Core frameworks.
Later this summer the ELA and mathematics curriculum framework review panels will be reconvened and charged with identifying unique Massachusetts standards to augment and strengthen the Common Core. This will be brought to the Board this Fall for final approval.
Once fully adopted, the new frameworks will be posted on the ESE website, and widely publicized. Regional statewide professional development sessions on the new standards will be offered over the next year, through the District and School Assistance Centers, the Readiness Centers and other venues. All districts will be expected to align their curricula to the new standards by the start of the 2012-2013 school year.


http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=5634



Curriculum and Instruction

Common Core State Standards Initiative

In December 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the 

Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care adopted new standards for English language arts and literacy across the disciplines, referred to as the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy (2011). The new standards incorporate the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History /Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects and a small number of supplemental Massachusetts standards and features.

Commissioner Chester has set the expectation that all public school districts and charter schools in the Commonwealth will have aligned their curricula to the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy (2011) and the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics (2011) by the end of the 2012-13 school year.

Massachusetts Side-by-Side Comparison Documents

The documents found at the below URL compare the new standards to the previous standards and are designed to help districts align their curricula, instruction, and assessments to the 2011 standards including: 

  • Comparison of the Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8 2011 Massachusetts standards with the standards of the Math Curriculum Framework (2000) and Supplement (2004)
  • Comparison of the 2011 Massachusetts ELA and Literacy Standards with the standards of the ELA Curriculum Framework (2001) and Supplement (2004)
  • Comparison of the new 2011 mathematics model high school course standards with the high school mathematics course standards in the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework (2000).
  • Comparison of the new 2011 Grade 8 standards with the Algebra I course standards in the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework (2000)



Find the standards on the Dept of Ed Website


The Standards Themselves


The Massachusetts standards for Math and English Language Arts can be found on the DOE website - entry link below:


The national standards can be found on the CCSI website - entry link below

Case Study

Visit this webiste to see how one school integrates common core and communicates with parents

http://curriculum.hpisd.org/

iEARN projects aligned to core standards


See how iEARN projects align to the Common Core State Standards in the Curriculum Integration Toolkit.  CCSS aligned plans include:

Listen to the Walls Talking Project - Oaxacan Street Art.  A classroom activity aimed at having the students understand how artists respond to political situations.
Grade Level: 9-12
Content Area: Creative Arts
Created By: Angela Guy, Houston, Texas, Teacher

Kindred (Family Histories) Project.  Students are looking at "Change Over Time: American Culture from 1912 – 2012."
Grade Level: K-5
Content Area: Language Arts, Social Studies
Created By: Mary Brownell, Philadelphia, PA, USA, iEARN Master Teacher

Finding Solutions to Hunger Project. Students will learn about the issues contributing to hunger around the world and what they can do to help.
Grade Level: 6-8
Content Area: Science, Social Studies
Created By: Deanne McBeath, Trenton, NJ, USA, iEARN Master Teacher

Connecting Math to Our Lives Project. Elementary students are finding out math is used in their Community.
Grade Level: K-5
Content Area: Math
Created By: Linda Giesen, Dallas, TX, USA, iEARN Master Teacher

Good Deeds Project. This plan was designed to enhance iEARN's Good Deeds Projects, where students share simple good deeds they have achieved, showing the details and motives behind this act.
Grade Level: K-2
Content Area: Language Arts
Created By: Jewel Mitchell, New York City, NY, USA, iEARN Master Teacher

Solar Cooker Project.  Students design, test and use solar cookers, while they experiment with alternative energy uses. They will create recipes and share their research findings.
Grade Level: 6-8
Content Area: Math, Science
Created By: Pam Novak, Longmeadow, MA, iEARN Master Teacher



http://us.iearn.org/projects/curriculum-integration-toolkit

An interactive guide to the standards



Find out what your student(s) needs to know based on the Common Core Standards. Click on the link then on a grade to zoom-in.  http://learnzillion.com/common_core/math/k-8

College Ready Education: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation


Fewer, Clearer, Higher:  Moving Forward with Consistent, Rigorous Standards for All Students

The new Common Core State Standards will bring consistency and clarity to American education. These college- and career-ready academic standards will provide a springboard for innovation in education. And, crucially, they will help educators improve student achievement levels, an outcome that will benefit students personally while also fueling our nation’s future economic success.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other philanthropies actively supported the Common Core State Standards Initiative, led by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association. But over the past several years, we’ve been thinking independently about the power of such standards, too.

We see these rigorous, clear standards as critical to better student results. But policymakers need to build on that foundation and ensure that teachers have what they need to do their jobs: things like rich assessment systems that yield useful, timely data; tools that help teachers translate such assessments into more-effective instruction; and evaluations and compensation systems that reward teachers for improved student results.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/highschools/Documents/fewer-clearer-higher-standards.pdf

High School Readiness - career success starts now!



recent survey of human resources managers for large companies found that 42.4 percent of them rate the overall preparation of high school graduates as deficient.[i] Some of these deficiencies then limit higher education attainment especially for critical disciplines such as the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields. The Council on Competitiveness reports that the United States ranks 17th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving degrees in science or engineering, a fall from third place three decades ago. We rank 26th in the proportion receiving undergraduate degrees in mathematics. Europe produces three times as many engineering graduates every year as the United States, while China produces five times as many. 
America’s schools and job training programs are not producing a sufficient number of people qualified to fill the jobs in highest demand now and in the years to come. Some experts predict that within a decade, 123 million high-skilled, high-paying jobs will exist, but just 50 million Americans will be qualified to take them. 
In order to stay competitive, American businesses will have to play a bigger role in our educational system to modernized teaching, development, and training for a 21st century workforce environment. Depending on the nature of their industry, corporate leaders along with the human resources division will have to evaluate their human capital plan to include more robust talent development and acquisition objectives. Some of these objectives should include more strategic campus programs that include community and technical colleges. The plan should also include a more aggressive corporate leadership development programs that includes scholarships, internships, mentoring, and full-time placements to align with recruiting needs.

Ful article

Selecting the Right Content




Developed by two of the lead authors of the Common Core State Standards and revised through conversations with teachers, researchers and other stakeholders, these criteria are designed to guide publishers and curriculum developers as they work to strengthen existing programs and ensure alignment of materials with the Standards to provide a clear and consistent framework.

ELA


Math

Parent Roadmaps


Parent Roadmaps
http://www.cgcs.org/Domain/36

  • Think of these as navigational tools with signs; guide on how teachers can partner with parents
  • language around common core
  • Will answer what student will be learning in each grade - looking at clusters and examples - does not include everything
  • each grade is shown with what is taught in grade before and grade after
  • shows diagrams of how concept will be taught in the classroom
  • provides specific examples of what parents can do at home - easy, free
  • information on additional resources
  • districts are using for parents, provide information for stakeholders, used for parent fairs, community organizaions
  • next steps...3 min common core video cgcs.org  - public service announcements upcoming

NAMS Principle's bog

For updates from the Middle School Principle check out this blog

http://namsprincipalmcquade.blogspot.com/2012/06/why-standards-based-grading.html

College and Career Readiness



College and Career Readiness: A Quick Stats
Fact Sheet
By Makeda Amelga, National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research
The transition from high school into college or the workforce is a key turning
point in the lives of young people. Regardless of their chosen career or
academic path after high school, young people must have the capacity to
address complex problems in order to maximize their potential for
professional and personal success. Far too many students—especially at-risk,
special education, and minority students—are not receiving an education
that adequately prepares them for life following high school.
The attahced statistics highlight some of the challenges and opportunities
facing high school students after graduation

http://www.betterhighschools.org/pubs/documents/NHSC_CollegeCareerReadinessFactSheet_Oct12.pdf

MCAS transition plan


Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Assessment Transition Plans

The documents below summarize the Department's plan for transitioning MCAS to the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Mathematics and English Language Arts and Literacy, both of which incorporate the Common Core State Standards.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/transition/

Next Generation Science Standards - MA

Through a collaborative, state-led process managed by Achieve, new K–12 science standards are being developed.  The NGSS will be based on the Framework for K–12 Science Education developed by the National Research Council.

Massachusetts recommends a course of study (MassCore) which outlines a rigorous program of study aligned to college and career ready expectations and includes the recommendation of three lab-based science courses.  MassCore is based on the Massachusetts Standards but is optional for school districts to adopt, therefore maintaining local district control of course requirements for graduation.  Massachusetts has shown additional commitment to the Next Generation Science Standards by delaying its current standards review process to align to the timeline for NGSS

Check her for more information on NGSS and the Massachusetts's state team and implementation plans
http://www.nextgenscience.org/massachusett

Previous Massachusetts Standards

MA side by side Comparison Documents 

The documents found at the below URL compare the new standards to the previous standards and are designed to help districts align their curricula, instruction, and assessments to the 2011 standards 

Grading System; Translating 1 - 4

from the North Andover Middle School Website

The traditional A-F grading system categorizes student performance into a percent that then equates to a letter grade for each class such as science 85%  B. In a standards-based grading system essential standards are identified with supporting benchmarks that reflect student performance on each one. A student may demonstrate learning progress at a proficiency level on one essential standard, and demonstrate learning progress at an advanced level which is  exceeding the identified proficiency level of another essential standard. The standards-based system will provide students and parents more information on student progress and learning.  






Standards-Based Teaching, Learning and Grading Resources

From the NAMS website and reprinted below for your convenience





The following articles will provide some background and insight into the research and benefits of Standards-Based Teaching, Learning and Grading:
Brookhart, Susan M. “Starting the Conversation About Grading.” Educational Leadership. November 2011.
http://www
.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov11/vol69/num03/Starting-the-Conversation-About-Grading.aspx
Guskey, Thomas R. and Lee Ann Jung. “The Challenges of Standards-Based Grading.” Leadership Compass. Winter 2006.
http://www
.naesp.org/resources/2/Leadership_Compass/2006/LC2006v4n2a3.pdf
Guskey, Thomas R. “Five Obstacles to Grading Reform.” Educational Leadership. November 2011.
http://www
.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov11/vol69/num03/Five-Obstacles-to-Grading-Reform.aspx
Guskey, Thomas R. and Lee Ann Jung. “Grading and Reporting in a Standards-Based Environment: Implications for Students with Special Needs.” April 2009.
http://www
.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED509343.pdf
Guskey, Thomas R., Lee Ann Jung and Gerry M. Swan. “Grades that mean something: Kentucky develops standards-based report cards a group of teachers, school leaders, and education researchers create report cards that link course grades to student progress on mastering state standards.” Phi Delta Kappan. October 2011.
http://go
.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA270292730&v=2.1&u=mlin_n_nams&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
(Note: If you have trouble accessing this document, click this link first and then click the link above)
MacTighe, Jay and Ken O’Connor. “Seven Practices for Effective Learning.” Educational Leadership. November 2005.
http://www
.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov05/vol63/num03/Seven-Practices-for-Effective-Learning.aspx
Oliver, Bruce. “Making the Case for Standards-Based Grading.” Just for the ASKing! January 2011.
http://essentialeducator
.org/?p=3415
Roscoria, Tanya. “3 Reasons Why School Districts Change Grading Practices.” Converge. 31 January 2012.http://www.convergemag.com/policy/Grading-Practices.html
Scriffiny, Patricia L. “Seven Reasons for Standards-Based Grading.” Educational Leadership. October 2008.
http://www
.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Seven_Reasons_for_Standards-Based_Grading.aspx
Walker, Karen. “Research Brief: Grading.” the Principals’ Partnership. March 2006.
http://www
.rfsd.k12.co.us/pdfs/grading.pdf