The Common Core State Standards

Myths, Readiness,Challenges and Technology Solutions

adam@opened.ioTwitter: @openedio

Agenda

What are some myths about the Common Core?

How ready is California for the Common Core?

What are the big remaining challenges?

What are some technology solutions?

Myths About the Common Core

It’s a federal government plot and a “national curriculum”

The standards are too easy

The standards are too hard

It creates “cookie-cutter courses”

It forces teachers to teach outside their expertise

It’s a Federal Government Plot

The Common Core State standards were developed by the National Governor’s Association

But its tied to No Child Left Behind act right? But CCSS predates NCLB

Oh well its Race to the Top then? Race to the Top provides incentives for adopting internationally

recognized standards of which CCSS is one

But the federal government will take them over There are no such plans

This is our federal tax dollars being misused. Initial work was funded by both the states and the Gates

Foundation and others. With no federal funding

“It’s Too Hard Core”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2013/08/16/is-common-core-too-hard-core/

“31% of New York students in grades three though eight met or exceeded math and English competency standards on tests given over six days this past April. In 2012, under the older, far easier, standards, 65% of New York students were proficient in Math and 55% proficient in English.”

Rigorous Standards Matter!

Is It Really Too Hard?

Yes there is a deeper conceptual base Word problems demonstrating full understanding

are important

The CC standards build on each other Fractions -> Algebra Algebra -> Statistics

And there are far fewer individual items than previous efforts e.g. California State Standards

CC Forces Teachers to Teach Outside Their Expertise

No doubt due to the “Common Core Literacy Standards”

I have seen “English teachers will be forced to teach Science and Social Studies” Not true

Science and Social Studies teachers will be called upon to teach reading and writing skills Presumably they were already but it is no longer

enough to be a “subject matter expert” there

CCSS Implementation Survey

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/810000-commcore-careadinesssurvey-countysupts102413.html

Will be presented November 6th to State Board of Ed

Prepared by CCSESA and Sacramento County

Performed from mid-September to mid-October

809 districts, 80% completion

Nearly all have implementation plan Half approved by school boards

CCSS Sequencing Implementation Plan

15% by grade

26% by content area

11% by school

48% all at once

Many districts commented that they combined “by grade” and “by content area”

CCSS Sequencing Implementation Plan

15% by grade

26% by content area

11% by school

48% all at once

Many districts commented that they combined “by grade” and “by content area”

CCSS Sequencing Math Implementation Plan

Math Sequence for grades 8-12 24% Traditional (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II) 30% Integrated 38% Have Not Selected Yet

Acceleration for Middle School 24% accelerated 6th and 7th grade 4% summer school 5% block schedules 30% not offering accelerated pathways 28% other (7th/8th, taking courses at high school)

CCSS Communication Plan

82% reported to the board

30% have formal communication plan

Communication with groups Teachers – 92% Parents – 60%

CCSS Curriculum Review

Major changes discussed with teachers ELA – 82.5% Math – 79.4%

Teachers understand the content, structure and organization ELA – 57.3% Math – 54.9%

Practices in Place Now

Teachers have examined the skills/progression within CCSS grade levels ELA – 58.2% Math – 53.4%

Teachers have created a scope and sequence for CCSS ELA – 15.8% Math – 19.8%

Teachers have created/aligned units lessons ELA – 19.5% Math – 19.8% 75% plan to have all of this available by 2014-2015

Instructional Materials and Resources

62% plan to have resources ELA – 58.2% Math – 53.4%

Teachers have created a scope and sequence for CCSS ELA – 15.8% Math – 19.8%

Teachers have created/aligned units lessons ELA – 19.5% Math – 19.8% 75% plan to have all of this available by 2014-

2015

Professional Development

75% of districts have PD plan

Sequencing By grade – 25% By content area – 49% By school – 11% All at once – 43%

PD focused on CCSS at 69% of districts

Teaching strategies for students Disabilities – 55% English Learner – 50%

Technology

Just over one third of districts have updated their technology plan to deal with CCSS and SBAC

75% of districts expect all their schools to assess students during 2014-2015 with computers

Biggest Challenges in CCSS Implementation

Time (too much at once)

Funding (materials, PD)

Technology (bandwidth, internet, infrastructure)

Instructional shifts (increased rigor and across subjects)

Lack of curriculum (materials and assessments)

Challenges of the Common Core

Most teachers self-assess as not knowing all the mandated material for their subjects

All students are expected to be exposed to their grade level standards

Especially in math, emphasizes conceptual understanding which can be more challenging to teach

It is by definition more interdisciplinary

It can be difficult to engage students in the nonfiction language content

Contrary to some perceptions, CC is LESS prescriptive, putting the burden on the teacher of “what to teach”

Technology Solutions

Flipping your classroom with video lectures and games can resolve an expertise problem

Videos can make nonfiction language content more engaging

We still need more video content: needs tools to enable easy content creation

Automated quizzing and games can get all students to basic standard mastery

The Ed Content Ecosystem

Edmodo

MoodleInstructure

Create

Compile

CatalogSearch

Consume

Analyze

OpenEd

Curriki

WatchKnowLearn

OERCommons

KhanAcademy

EdCanvas

Knewton

Agilix

adaptive learning

tools

LMS studentinterfaces

searchengines

BrightStorm

HippoCampus

LearnZillion

creationassistance

tools

HoodaMathMathChimp

catalogs LMSes

XPMath

Schmoop

BrainGenie

LRMI

MasteryConnect

Gooru

Knowmia

content sites

google youtube

analytics and metrics

Themeefy

UClass

OpenEd – www.opened.io

Over 250,000 educational resources (videos, games, assessments)

Largest catalog of standard-aligned resources on the Internet second most is watchknowlearn.org with <5,000 aligned

resources

Flipped classroom LMS but OpenEd usable from any LMS

All accessible via open APIs And all except recommendation engine is open source

99% “recommendation engine”, 1% professional curation assisted by software

Some of the Interesting Remaining Problems

Content from the ground up focused on standard

Best ways to use class time when flipping (projects, problems, teams, questions)

How to find the best content for your topic and standard

Mapping between standards, to leverage content internationally

How to assess effectiveness of content in addressing standard

How to deal with SBAC/PARCC without “teaching to the test”

Questions for Teachers

What is the content needed for your students?

How do you find it?

How will you organize it?

How will your students get to it?

How will you assess its effectiveness for your students?