1. Understanding the Higher Standards:
What Every Business Leader Needs to Know
Woodinville Rotary 4.22.14
Northshore School District: Jeanne Flahiff, MA, NBCT
Patty Stephens, MEd., NBCT

2. WHAT IS THE NEED FOR
HIGHER STANDARDS?
• Student performance is too low
• Current standards are too low

3. What is the NEED for Higher Standards?
Student performance is too low
Thirty percent of high school
graduates can’t pass the U.S.
military entrance exam focused
just on basic reading and math skills.

4. What is the NEED for Higher Standards?
Student performance is too low
The United States has more than
600,000 manufacturing jobs
vacant because there aren’t enough
qualified people to fill them.

5. What is the NEED for Higher Standards?
Student performance is too low
A McKinsey & Company survey found
that 87 % of educational
institutions thought they had
prepared their students well for
employment…
but only 49 % of employers
agreed that their new employees
had the training they needed.

6. What is the NEED for Higher Standards?
Student performance is too low
A Deloitte survey found that 63% of life
science and aerospace firms report
shortages of qualified workers.
Many executives fear this problem will
accelerate as 60 % of the existing
workforce in the defense and
aerospace industries reaches
retirement age in the coming decade.

7. What is the NEED for Higher Standards?
Student performance is too low
According to the National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP), only:
• 35% of U.S. 4th grade students are
proficient in reading
• 36% of U.S. 8th grade students are
proficient in math

8. What is the NEED for Higher Standards?
Student performance is too low
80% of entering college freshmen
are not prepared academically
for first-year courses, according to
ACT.

9. What is the NEED for Higher Standards?
Current Standards are too low
A 2010 report by the Thomas B. Fordham
Institute showed that Common Core
State Standards are clearer and more
rigorous than standards used by 39 states
in math and 37 states in reading.
In 33 states, the new standards are
superior in both math and reading.

10. Who: National Governors Association
Council of Chief State School Officers
Educators and experts from states across the nation
What: Nationally Benchmarked Standards
When: Released 2010
Why: Disparity in State Standards
Recognition that many students
graduate unprepared for college
and careers.
Development of the Standards:
“Better, Fewer, Deeper”

11. Adoption:
Standards Across the Nation
By 2011, 46 states and the District of
Columbia (80% of K–12 student population)
adopted the Common Core standards as
their own.

12. Adoption:
Standards Across the Nation
Some states have rebranded the CCSS
as state standards (i.e. NY) and have added
additional standards not mentioned in the
CCSS (i.e. handwriting).

13. 13
http://vimeo.com/51933492
What are the Common Core State Standards?

14. The Common Core Standards ARE:
Replacements of existing State
Standards
Grade-by-grade K-12 standards
• Mathematics
• English Language Arts and Literacy
in History, Science, and Technical
Subjects

15. The Common Core Standards ARE:
Based on learning progressions
Created to preparing students for
success in college and career
Better, Fewer, Deeper

16. What Improvements Can We
Expect in Student Learning?
Students will …
Enter college taking credit bearing class
rather than remedial ones
Enter career options with high literacy
and numeracy skills to begin specialized
training immediately

17. How does CCSS affect state testing?
• New CCSS tests aligned to college and
career readiness standards in Math and
in ELA will replace the old tests in
Spring 2015
• Emphasis on both content and
application
• Passing 11th Grade Test = College and
Career Ready

18. How Will CCSS Change
Teaching?
74% of all teachers in Common Core states
say implementation will require them to
make changes in their teaching practice.

19. MAJOR CHANGES:
The Shifts in Mathematics
1. Focus: Focus strongly where the
standards focus
2. Coherence: Think across grades, and
link to major topics
3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue
conceptual understanding,
procedural skill and fluency, and
application with equal intensity

20. MAJOR CHANGES:
The Shifts in ELA/Literacy
1. Building knowledge through content-
rich nonfiction
2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in
evidence from text, both literary and
informational
3. Regular practice with complex text and
its academic language

21. Common Core: It Takes All of Us
• Students
• Teachers
• Parents
• Community
Business
Members
• Colleges
and
Universi8es
• Technical
Training
Programs

22. Questions and Answers:

23. Additional Business Resource
• Business Center for a College- and Career- Ready America – The GE Foundation and
AT&T, with Chevron and the Prudential and Travelers foundations, collaborated with Achieve to
create resources to help businesses support college and career readiness for all students.
http://www.businessandeducation.org
• Conservatives for Higher Standards – Website by Foundation for Excellence in
Education to highlight the conservative arguments in favor of the Common Core.
http://highercorestandards.org
• TheCommonCore.com – A business-led effort by ExxonMobil with The Business
Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce connects supporters of the Common Core
directly with state legislators and provides alerts when new or increased opposition to the
standards emerges.
http://thecommoncore.com
• The Hunt Institute’s Box.com – File-sharing site offers a variety of tools, resources, and
information to help with communicating about the Common Core, including resources
featuring supportive quotes and favorable arguments put forward by business leaders.
https://app.box.com/s/4m7gjixj3pt1dgja16im
• UpGrade AmericaToolkit – The Business Coalition for Student Achievement offers
template materials, talking points, and supporting facts to help business leaders make the
economic case for meaningful education reform.
http://www.biz4achievement.org/files/Upgrade_
%20America_Communications_Toolkit_2013.pdf
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Common Core E-Toolkit – Toolkit
designed to help business leaders communicate with peers, employees and others about the
new standards and assessments.The toolkit includes background materials to help users better
understand and advocate for the standards.
http://www.businessforcore.org/