4. Today’s Key Questions What are the expectations of the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects? (The Standards and Assessments) How can we begin an exploration of the standards in schools? (Exploring Strategies) What might the application of standards look like in practice, particularly in text and task selection? (Strategies for Leading the Common Core Adoption in PLCs)
5. Why New Standards? Students are not reading at levels sufficient for college and career readiness in content areas. Only slightly more than half (53%) of the members of the 2009 high school graduating class were ready for college-level and workplace training–level reading
6. What is “College Readiness?” The level of preparation a student needs to be ready to enroll and succeed without remediation in an entry-level, credit bearing course (in each content area) at a two-year or four-year institution, trade school, or technical school.
15. Leading the Discussion: Strengths of CCSS Aligned with college and work expectations. Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher order skills. Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards. Informed by top-performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and, Evidence and/or researched-based.
16. Key Advances: ELA and Literacy in Content Areas Reading: Balance of literature and informational texts + Text complexity Writing: Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing + Writing about Sources Speaking and Listening: Inclusion of formal and informal talk Language: Stress on general academic and domain specific vocabulary Standards for reading and writing in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects: Complement rather than replace content standards SHIFTS RESPONSIBILITY for TEACHING with TEXT to ALL TEACHERS
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18. Anchor Standards: Clear Simple Targets Anchor standards for Reading and Writing across genres and subject areas allow students to develop mutually reinforcing skills, required across a range of texts and classrooms Reading and Writing standards are closely tied to the standards for listening and speaking. 21st Century skills in research and technology, particularly regarding the interpretation and production of multi-media texts are also featured.
19. Key Grade Band Features K-5 Foundational Skills (Print Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition, and Fluency) 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
20. How Can This Make More Kids College Ready?: Sample Assessment Tasks Explore the sample assessment items and discuss the ways in which the tasks differ from ISAT in terms of cognitive tasks each requires. Talk with your partner first Talk with your group
21. Grade-Specific Standards: A Spiraling Staircase What students should master by the end of each grade. Students are expected to retain and further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.
22. Leading the Discussion: Spiraling Standards in Reading and Writing CCR Anchor Standard 8 for Reading: “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.” CCR Anchor Standard 1 for Writing: “Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.”
23. Tracking a Spiraling Standard Complete Tracking Activity (20-30 minutes) What variables are used to increase rigor?
24. Tracking a Spiraling Standard Reflection: What aspects of literacy seems to be valued most throughout these standards?
26. Quantitative Text Complexity Standards recommend that multiple quantitative measures be used whenever possible and that their results be confirmed or overruled by a qualitative analysis of the text in question. Certain texts such as Poetry, Drama and K-1 texts cannot accurately be measured quantitatively .
29. Lower or Higher End of Grade Band? Examine the Text Using the Protocol for Analyzing the Qualitative Dimensions of Text Complexity Would you place this on the lower or higher end of the 6-8 grade band? Reflection: How can you as an instructional leader facilitate these kinds of reflective discussions?
31. Task Analysis Douglass’s Narrative Which of the Grade 8, ELA Standards would you practice while completing this task? Which of the 6-8 Literacy Standards would you practice while completing this task?
32. The Special Place of Argumentation (1) Other nations pay equal attention to what students read and how they read. Explicit expectations for the range, quality, and complexity of what students read along with more conventional standards describing how well students must be able to read. (2) Students are required to write in response to sources. In several international assessment programs, students are confronted with a text or texts and asked to gather evidence, analyze readings, and synthesize content. The Standards likewise require students to “draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research” (Writing CCR standard 9). (3) Writing arguments and writing informational/explanatory texts are priorities. The Standards follow international models by making writing arguments and writing informational/explanatory texts the dominant modes of writing in high school to demonstrate readiness for college and career.
36. Kids Get Good at What They Practice All worksheets aren’t bad. All worksheets is bad.
37. It’s Still about the Text/Task Tier I Teaching to the Match Frontload Background Knowledge School Life/Real Life—The Argumentation Connection TEXT TASK
38. It’s Still about the Text/Task Tier I Teaching to the Match Frontload Background Knowledge School Life/Real Life! TASK TEXT
39. Implications for Instruction Shift focus from literacy instruction to center on careful examination of text Text selection: complexity, genre, and quality Task selection: rigorous tasks Source: CARRIE HEATH PHILLIPS, COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS (CCSSO) CARRIEH@CCSSO.ORG
40. More Non-fiction Grades 3-5 50% Literature 50% Informational. Grades 6-12 45% Literature 55% Informational (More literary non-fiction, particularly texts build on informational text structures rather than literary non-fiction that are structured as stories such as memoirs or biographies.) Texts must be worthy of close reading. Source: CARRIE HEATH PHILLIPS, COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS (CCSSO) CARRIEH@CCSSO.ORG
42. Literature versus Informational Texts Think about grade and subjects levels, not ELA classes and reading blocks Slight shift toward more literary non-fiction in ELA classes Big shift toward more text school-wide
43. Scaffold Complexity-Don’t Avoid It Lots of opportunities for close reading of short texts at or beyond the grade level. Access to lots of accessible texts and time to choose and read them—Increasing # of pages is essential to increasing reading ability. Productive struggle with independent reading. Challenge students to make claims and support with evidence from the text.
44. Application: Instructional Leadership in the Common Core Era Collaborate with teachers to examine threads of the common core standards as it develops over grade levels Collaborate with teachers to examine texts through the common core qualitative lens and use more text in instruction Collaborate with teachers to incorporate elements of argument and other rigorous activities into the selection of texts and tasks #1 Common Assessment Recommendation: Collaboratively Evaluated, Argumentative Responses to Text
45. CCSS Implementation at Your School Reflection: What kind of professional development might you and/or your team need to implement CCSS?
Handouts: Tracking a Standard in Reading and Writing
Handouts: Tracking a Standard in Reading and Writing
The tools for measuring text complexity are at once useful and imperfect. Each of the qualitative and quantitativetools described above has its limitations, and none is completely accurate.
