CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

• Common Core State Standards
• The role of educational foundations in promoting
  college and career standards for all students

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CT State Department of Education Core Beliefs
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CT State Department of Education Core Beliefs
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Common Core State Standards Smarter Balanced
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What are the Common Core State Standards?
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Common Core Content Areas and Instructional
Shifts
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Common Core English language arts and Literacy
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Common Core Instructional Shifts ELA

• Building knowledge through content-rich
  nonfiction and informational texts
• Why are the instructional shifts in English
  language arts (ELA) important?
• Much of our knowledge base comes from
  informational text.
• Informational text makes up a vast majority of
  required reading in college/workplace (80).
• Informational text is harder for students to
  comprehend than narrative text.
• In K-5, fulfilling the Standards requires a 50-50
  balance between informational and literary
  reading, informational reading primarily includes
  content rich non-fiction in history/social
  studies, science and the arts the K-5 standards
  strongly recommend that students build coherent
  general knowledge both within each year and
  across years.
• In 6-12, ELA classes place much greater attention
  to a specific category of informational
  textliterary nonfictionthan has been
  traditional. In grades 6-12, the Standards for
  literacy in history/social studies, science and
  technical subjects ensure that students can
  independently build knowledge in these
  disciplines through reading and writing.

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Common Core Instructional Shifts ELA

• Reading, writing and speaking grounded in
  evidence from text, both literary and
  informational
• The Standards place a premium on students writing
  to sources (i.e., using evidence from texts to
  present careful analyses, well-defended claims,
  and clear information). Rather than asking
  students questions they can answer solely from
  their prior knowledge or experience, the
  Standards expect students to answer questions
  that depend on their having read the text or
  texts with care. The Standards also require the
  cultivation of narrative writing throughout the
  grades, and in later grades a command of sequence
  and detail will be essential for effective
  argumentative and informational writing.
• Likewise the reading standards focus on students
  ability to read carefully and grasp information,
  arguments, ideals and details based on text
  evidence. Students should be able to answer a
  range of text-dependent questions, questions in
  which the answers require inferences based on
  careful attention to the text.

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Common Core Instructional Shifts ELA

• Regular practice with complex text and its
  academic language
• The Standards build a staircase of text
  complexity so that all students are ready for the
  demands of college- and career-level reading no
  later than the end of high school. Students will
  read complex texts on their own and gather
  evidence, knowledge, and insight from those
  texts. read and reread passages, and respond to a
  series of text dependent questions, vocabulary
  and/or syntax tasks.
• Closely related to text complexity
• and inextricably connected to
• reading comprehensionis a
• focus on academic vocabulary
• words that appear in a variety of
• content areas.

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Common Core Instructional Shifts Math

• Focus Strongly where the Standards focus
• Significantly narrow the scope of content and
  deepen how time and energy is spent in the math
  classroommove away from "mile wide, inch deep"
  curricula.
• Focus deeply only on what is emphasized in the
  standards, so that students gain strong
  foundationsteach less, learn more.
• K Counting, Sequencing, Value, Measurement
• 1st 2nd Adding, Subtracting-Whole numbers
  Quantity
• 3rd Multiplication, Division, Fractions
• 4th, 5th Fractionsmoving to ratios at the very
  end

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Mathematics Traditional U.S. Approach to Math
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Mathematics Common Core Approach to Math
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Common Core Instructional Shifts Math

• Coherence Think across grades, and link to major
  topics within grades
• Carefully connect the learning within and across
  grades so that students can build new
  understanding onto foundations built in previous
  years.
• Begin to count on solid conceptual understanding
  of core content and build on it. Each standard is
  not a new event, but an extension of previous
  learning.
• Fraction example
• The coherence and sequential
• nature of mathematics dictate the
• foundational skills that are necessary
• for the learning of algebra. The most
• important foundational skill not presently
• developed appears to be proficiency with
  fractions
• (including decimals, percents, and negative
• fractions). The teaching of fractions must be
• acknowledged as critically important and
• improved before an increase in student
• achievement in algebra can be expected.
• Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory
  Panel (2008, p. 18)

• Grade 3 Example The standards make explicit
  connections at a single grade

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Common Core Instructional Shifts Math

• Rigor In major topics, pursue conceptual
  understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and
  application
• The CCSSM require a balance of
• Solid conceptual understandingTeachers support
  students ability to access concepts from a
  number of perspectives so that students are able
  to see math as more than a set of mnemonics or
  discrete procedures.
• Procedural skill and fluencyTeachers structure
  class time and/or homework time for students to
  practice core functions such as single-digit
  multiplication so that students have access to
  more complex concepts and procedures.
• Application of skills in problem solving
  situationsTeachers provide opportunities for
  students to apply math in context. Teachers in
  context areas outside of math, particularly in
  science, ensure that students are using math to
  make meaning of and access content.
• This requires equal intensity in time,
  activities, and resources in pursuit of all three.

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Required Mathematics Fluencies in K-6
Grade Standard Required Fluency
K K.OA.5 Add/subtract within 5
1 1.OA.6 Add/subtract within 10
2 2.OA.2 2.NBT.5 Add/subtract within 20 (know single-digit sums from memory) Add/subtract within 100
3 3.OA.7 3.NBT.2 Multiply/divide within 100 (know single-digit products from memory) Add/subtract within 1000
4 4.NBT.4 Add/subtract within 1,000,000
5 5.NBT.5 Multi-digit multiplication
6 6.NS.2,3 Multi-digit division Multi-digit decimal operations
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What is Smarter Balanced?
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What is Smarter Balanced?
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Smarter Balanced ELA Content Specifications
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Smarter Balanced Math Content Specifications
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College- and Career-Ready
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The role of community organizations in this shift

• Review alignment
• If college and career readiness is a focus of
  investments
• Consider adjusting application process or
  criteria
• Consider investing in projects that support the
  shifts
• Make supporting literature available
• Lend your credibility
• Network for maximum impact

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More information about new standards
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More information on new assessments