CALIFORNIA COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

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1 Rocklin Unified School District CALIFORNIA COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS The following is a collection of questions gathered at our fall California Common Core Community Forums at Spring View Middle School on 9/24/2013 and at Granite Oaks Middle School on 10/8/2013. Questions are grouped into the following categories: General: 1-51, ELA: 1-5, Math: 1-8, Assessment: 1-25, Special Education: 1-2 General: 1. Where did CCCSS come from? The development of the California Common Core State Standards (CCCSS) was a voluntary state-led effort coordinated by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, with stakeholders from nearly every state in the country contributing to their development. In the fall of 2009, governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states (including California), two territories, and the District of Columbia, committed to developing a set of standards that would help prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in education and careers after high school. The feedback and the review process was integral to the shaping of these new standards, and included educators from kindergarten through grade twelve, postsecondary faculty, curriculum and assessment experts, researchers, national organizations, and community groups. The CCCSS include standards for mathematics, ELA, and literacy in various content areas for students in kindergarten through grade twelve. More information about the development of the CCCSS is available at 2. Were CA previous standards in fact more rigorous than CCCSS? The CCCSS are designed to build upon the most advanced current thinking about preparing all students for success in college and their careers. This will result in moving even the best state standards to the next level. In fact, since this work began, there has been an explicit agreement that no state would lower its standards. The CCCSS were formed by the best experts in the country, the highest International standards, and evidence and expertise about educational outcomes. We need college and career ready standards because even in high performing states students are graduating and passing all the required tests and still require remediation in their postsecondary work. ( 3. Why are we changing to CCCSS? Common learning goals provide a clear vision of what educators and parents in all states should aim for. These learning goals help ensure that students meet college and work expectations, are prepared to succeed in a global economy and society, and are provided 1

2 with rigorous content and application of higher knowledge thinking. Benchmarked against international standards, the CCCSS assist students in their preparation to complete the requirements for enrollment at a University of California and California State University campuses. 4. Will CCCSS reach all modalities of learning styles? Yes. Good classroom instruction has always included differentiation strategies to meet the various needs of students within the classroom (visual, kinesthetic, auditory processes) and CCCSS will still demand differentiation. 5. What are some of the concerns of educators in regards to CCCSS? As with anything new, there are questions around implementation. RUSD is working with our teachers and administrators to answer those questions as quickly as possible to ensure a smooth transition for our students. 6. Where the human element is and what will teachers be able to do in understanding the learners? The human element of teaching and learning has not changed. Teachers will continue to base instruction on the needs of learners in their classroom to push everyone to their highest potential states rejected CCCSS. How will our students compare with those who do not use CCCSS? To date, only five states have not fully adopted CCCSS. It is our belief that our students will continue to outperform other students due to the increase of expectations, rigor and depths of knowledge with the new state standards. 8. Who will be writing the lesson plans? The teachers will continue to write their lesson plans. The CCCSS will establish what students need to learn, but they do not dictate how teachers should teach. Instead, schools and teachers will decide how to best help students reach the standards. 9. How can our parent community contribute to technology implementation in RUSD? There will be opportunities for the community to get involved in supporting the technology implementation. We are currently working on a district technology plan to support CCCSS implementation. There will be opportunities for our community and families to support this work. 10. Will report cards reflect standards? Yes, report cards will be aligned to CCCSS. 11. Are we working with other districts? Yes, we work with Placer County Office of Education and other local districts to learn from each other and create best practices for implementing the CCCSS. 2

3 12. Are we sure of the funding? Ongoing? Is it enough? California has provided a one time allocation of $200 per student to be spent from the school years to help support districts in the transition to the CCCSS. The money can be spent on professional learning, instructional materials and technology to support CCCSS implementation. This one time allocation from the state will not meet all of our needs, but it is a start. RUSD is currently developing a plan to make the most of this funding. 13. How much is it going to cost and where does the funding come from? See question Home-School Connection What strategies can parents use to help their students at home? There are many ways a parent can support their students for success in school. Please see the CCCSS Brochure for Families for further information located at: mmon%20core/common%20core%20state%20standards- Rocklin%20Brochure%20for%20Families.pdf 15. Is there something that highlights the differences between CA standards and CCCSS? Sacramento County Office of Education created two crosswalks or documents to compare the 1997 Content Standards in ELA and Math. See links below: English Language Arts Math Have standards been tried out or vetted? The CCCSS have made careful use of a large and growing body of evidence. The evidence includes scholarly research; surveys on what skills are required of students entering college and workforce training programs; assessment data identifying college and career ready performance; and comparison to standards from high-performing states and nations. ( 17. Why aren t all states adopting? Each state made its own decision as to whether or not to adopt the common core and we do not have the rationale behind each states decision. 45 states have currently adopted the standards. 18. Where is the evidence that CCCSS will work? See question 16. 3

4 19. Is it research based? See question Why are we moving so quickly? California adopted CCCSS in The states student assessment system will be aligned to the CCCSS and will be assessed in the school year with public reporting of the data. 21. Where is RUSD in comparison and relative to the state and nation in implementation of CCCSS? We are working towards implementing CCCSS on pace with other districts around the state. We all have the same end goal to be ready for our state assessments based on CCCSS by When will there be a curriculum adoption and opportunity for parents to view? In 2011, the Governor and State Legislature extended the suspension of State Board of Education (SBE) adoptions of instructional materials until the school year (Education Code Section ). While the suspension of adoptions ends in July 2015, at this time there is not yet a schedule established in law for the cycle of future adoptions. In 2012, the Governor and State Legislature enacted AB 1246 (Brownley) which established EC Section and thereby authorized the SBE to adopt new CCSS-aligned K 8 instructional materials for mathematics no later than March More information about this scheduled adoption is available on the CDE Mathematics Web page. As we have done in the past, parents will be given the opportunity to view and comment on curriculum materials prior to them being recommended to the Board for adoption. 23. Who is writing (developing) the CCCSS curriculum? The standards have been written (see question 2 for more info) and adopted. Publishers are currently working on textbooks and resources to teach the standards. See number 21 about textbook adoption. 24. Will all levels of learners be challenged? Yes. See question How will RUSD address keyboarding skills? Under CCCSS keyboarding is a skill that starts in third grade, building upon the requirement to use a variety of digital tools to publish writing starting in kindergarten. RUSD students will be prepared to take the new generation of computer-based assessments and will be taught any skills needed to be successful. 4

5 26. Why don t we have people who can answer questions live? It is important for RUSD leaders to get complete and detailed information to all stakeholders. We will be using the questions to better plan for future community events. 27. How will we know how to support our students on CCCSS at home? See question What does the community know about CCCSS (i.e. tutoring clubs like Kumon, etc.)? It is hard to determine the overall knowledge of the community. It is our effort through our community forums to build community knowledge. 29. What impact has political views impacted literature and standards in the curriculum? The CCCSS were created through a state led initiative beginning with the 1996 National Education Summit, where a bipartisan group of governors and business leaders joined to create and lead an organization dedicated to support standards based education reform efforts across the states. The current initiative was launched by the National Governors Association (NGA) and Counsel of Chief State Schools Officers (CCSSO). July 2009: NGA and CCSSO announced work groups and released a draft of college and career ready standards for public comment for educators, administrators, and community and parent organizations. September 2009: The Validation Committee was announced a 25 member committee of leading educators charged with providing independent, expert validations of the process. March 2010: The first public draft of the Common Core State Standards was released for public feedback. June 2010: The final version of the Common Core State Standards was released to the public. June 2010: Validation Committee published its final report stating, Unlike past standards setting efforts, the Common Core State Standards are based on best practices in national and international education, as well as research and input from numerous sources. The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) coordinated the process to develop the Common Core State Standards. 30. How does faith based beliefs relate to scientific evidence? While faith based beliefs will not be taught or addressed directly in the public school system, each student and family brings their own perspective and values when developing academic understanding. RUSD respects the values and beliefs of all families. 5

6 31. What supports are in place for student transition to CCCSS? All students are regularly assessed for academic proficiency growth and needs. Our district has remediation, intervention and extension opportunities for our students. Teacher training and development in the areas of CCCSS instructional strategies and content knowledge will also support student development in the classroom. 32. How will CCCSS address GATE students? All levels of learners will be addressed within the CCCSS, including our GATE population. The emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving will allow some of our most innovative students to thrive within our educational system. RUSD will continue with our self-contained GATE program and GATE clusters throughout the district. The deeper levels of knowledge required by CCCSS are already in place in our existing GATE programs. 33. Procedures for parents to change curriculum helping at home? See question Are there other options to CCCSS? California has adopted CCCSS in August of 2010 for ELA and Math. All public schools in the state of California will be assessed on these new standards in and the data will be used to assess the effectiveness of schools and districts by the state. 35. How will this impact neighboring schools and charter schools? All public and charter schools in California will have the same assessment requirements for ELA and Math based on CCCSS. 36. Who will write this new curriculum until the new textbooks are written? See question Is there more emphasis on group work & how does this impact grading? See question 8 - Grading and group work are a classroom based decision. Currently, schools have opportunities for students to work together and enrich their learning of subject level material. It will ultimately be left up to teachers and schools to decide how best to teach their students. 38. What impact will this have on non-core classes such as Art/PE/Music? CCCSS address English Language Arts and Mathematics. Literacy will be a focus across the content areas including Art, PE and Music. 39. What professional development is occurring and are teachers buying into CCCSS? RUSD teachers have been participating in professional development since fall of 2011 to build their knowledge of the standards and shifts at all grade levels. Professional development has focused on working on teacher s ability to expand learning beyond level of recall and reproduction to levels of strategic and extended thinking. An additional focus 6

7 is on effective first instructional strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of all students. Finally, we have ongoing learning on the developing a thorough of the new standards and what they expect students to know and be able to do. Overall, teachers seem excited about this challenge to integrate more of their curriculum and focus on building literacy and critical thinking skills in their classrooms. 40. Will AP students be held back with new standards? No, AP coursework at the high school level will not be impacted. 41. What is the funding and where is it coming from? See question How will you get all teachers to buy in/align all sites? Through education, training, and collaborative decision-making. 43. What will the process be to access classes or will it change? As we have previously, we will use assessments, performance and recommendations to determine appropriate placements. 44. How will we continue to shift and prepare all of the students? See question What curriculum is being used now? State standards identify what we want students to know and be able to do and guide what we teach in the classroom. Textbook resources and materials support that learning. As we have in the past, we will continue the adoption process outlined by the state of California. In the interim, we are looking into supplemental bridge materials to assist our teachers in California Common Core implementation. Please see question 22 for more information on adoption. 46. There is controversy regarding the content reading material what is the process to OPT out of content? The controversy regarding the content of reading material is related to the recommended reading lists located in the appendices of the CCCSS. That list is not a required list of reading materials. RUSD will be reviewing materials as we go through the public textbook adoption process. **NOTE: Other than sexual health education, HIV/AIDS prevention education, surveys, tests, research and evaluation, parents do not have a right to prior written notice and opportunity to opt out of any part of public school curricula under California law. (California Education Code 51931(b), 51933, 51937, , 51931(d), 51934, 51938, 51513, 51938(b). 7

8 47. When will new CCCSS curriculum be released? See questions 22 and 45 for information on adoption and curriculum. 48. Will our current curriculum continue to be used for now? RUSD is in transition and is shifting to teaching CCCSS for ELA and Math. 49. How do we get involved in content that is going to be implemented? The public is invited to participate in our Common Core Forums and textbook adoption process. 50. How will we grade objectively over subjective answers? Grading will continue as it has in the past using right or wrong answers and calibrated rubrics to identify proficiency or accuracy on answers. 51. Will classroom time increase to do this kind of instruction? There is no plan to increase instructional minutes. English Language Arts (ELA): 1. When is it determined that the response is right or wrong? There will always be questions and assignments that require a definitive right or wrong response. Questions or assignments that have a more subjective response, for example a narrative or opinion based essay, are scored on a rubric that includes benchmark expectations for content, conventions, and proficiency. 2. Concern about experimentation? While CCCSS are new, they are not dramatically divergent to California. CCCSS are based on extensive research and collaboration by experts throughout the educational field, as well as input from state leaders. See question 18 in General Questions. 3. How is non-fiction vetted? During the curriculum adoption process, the public is given the opportunity to review materials being considered for core instruction. All curriculum materials are subject to a review process by district personnel and our school board before they can be adopted. See question 22 in General Questions for more information about textbook adoption. 4. What is the comparison of the CCCSS vs. original % of informational text? California Content Standards did not have a recommendation for non-fiction. The California Common Core Content Standard s requirement for non-fiction changes by grade level from 50% in fourth grade to 70% in 12 th across all content areas. 8

9 5. If disagreeing with literature presented in the classroom, what actions do parents take? If a parent has a concern about a particular book or reading passage they can meet with the site administrator to discuss their concerns. Math: 1. Pathway A vs. B There are two distinct paths for secondary math within CCCSS. One is the more traditional pathway (A), where content is taught in succession with Algebra, Geometry and Algebra II as courses. The second pathway (B) is called Integrated Math where students are taught concepts from all subject areas in a sequential manner within the yearlong mathematics course titled Mathematics and or Integrated Math 1, 2, Teacher time intervention There are no proposed changes to the amount of instructional minutes currently in place, so teacher time is not impacted. Interventions will continue to be provided if needed and appropriate for our students. 3. How do you grade a math argument? As is the case in current practice in evaluation of student writing, rubrics or elements of identified expectations will be utilized to determine proficiency. See question 1 in ELA. 4. Should we introduce concepts at a lower level? Different mathematical topics have been moved to lower or even higher grade levels depending on the academic learning. The structure is intended to give students a foundation at the lower grade levels and build as they move up in the grades. 5. Does (College Preparatory Math) CPM exceed CCCSS and will RUSD maintain use of CPM? We are currently evaluating the CPM textbook materials to determine appropriateness in teaching the CCCSS. See questions 22 and 45 for additional information in General Questions. 6. When will RUSD transition to new math (pathway B on PPT) or will they? At this time we are maintaining Pathway A and will continue to evaluate and assess if changes are needed to move us to an integrated math pathway. 7. Will these names of math classes be recognized by 4-year colleges? Many high schools across America have used the integrated math course titles and structures and have been recognized by four-year colleges. If changes occur in our RUSD 9

10 course titles it will be done in alignment with all A-G coursework requirements for CSU and UC admissions. 8. When will we find out the math path? And when will it be integrated? See questions 1 and 6 in this section (Math). Assessment: 1. Who is grading the exams? SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) currently holds the responsibility to design and administer the exams How do we make scoring objective? Although the testing consortium (SBAC) is charged with designing the assessments, all states will be given the responsibility to score their own tests. Test scorer preparation will include training in calibration to increase the validity and reliability of scorers. 3. How are assessments scored? Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) is based on student responses, the computer program adjusts the difficulty of questions throughout the assessment. For example, a student who answers a question correctly will receive a more challenging item, while an incorrect answer generates an easier question. By adapting to the student as the assessment is taking place, these assessments present an individually tailored set of questions to each student and can quickly identify which skills students have mastered. This approach represents a significant improvement over traditional paper-and-pencil assessments used in many states today, providing more accurate scores for all students across the full range of the achievement continuum Are they scored by key words or is each test read individually by a person? See question Are scorers calibrating their thinking? See question Does spelling count? The benefit of a computerized test is that all students will be able to access appropriate resources and tools to help aide in responding. Currently it is planned for all students to have access to spell check for the testing. 7. Who is doing the scoring? See question 2. 10

11 8. Will this impact return of results? Computerized assessments allow teachers, principals, and parents to receive results in weeks, not months. Faster results mean that teachers can use the information from optional interim assessments throughout the school year to differentiate instruction and better meet the unique needs of their students. 9. What is the technology implementation timeline? The district has begun to assess, pilot, and implement the necessary technologies to administer the CCCSS tests and to support student learning. The timeline for implementation will run up to the live testing of spring At elementary level is math more subjective than in the past? New assessments in math will contain both constructive and free responses (scoring will be based on a rubric). 11. Will there be assessment model practice time for students? Students are able to get online and do a practice test at school or home. The district has already conducted Scientific Pilot Tests (spring of 2013) and will participate in the Field Tests (during the spring of 2014). 12. Will there be a district plan for teaching typing? See question 25 in General Questions. 13. Will teachers be given adequate opportunity to administer common core type tests? The intent of the Pilot and Field Tests are to adequately prepare students, teachers, administrators, and support staff; and ensure that we have adequate technology resources. 14. Will there be double testing in the interim? Current California legislation (AB 484) has eliminated most of the STAR assessments except for grades 5, 8 and 10 science testing, the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), and the California Alternative Performance Assessment (CAPA). California Standards Test (CST) for 11 th graders will also take place in RUSD for purposes of the Early Assessment Program (indicator for college readiness). 15. Who is doing the pilot testing on the Smarter Balance Assessment? Three RUSD schools voluntarily participated in pilot testing during the spring of Additional field testing is planned for the spring of 2014, at which time all California students will participate in the field test for either ELA or Math assessments in grade levels 3-8 and 11. The field test is for the purpose of test calibration only and will not generate student results. 11

12 16. Who is creating the artificial intelligence on the assessment? See question How will RUSD cover costs for implementation (i.e. assessment components)? California Department of Education (CDE) is responsible for the costs of the new assessments statewide. Districts will have to fund the necessary infrastructure to administer the new assessments. California schools will receive an estimated additional one time allocation of $ per student to help implement CCCSS. 18. Explain why people believe CCCSS affects student s ranking/test scores? We do not have any information as to why people would believe this. 19. Will there be comparison between CA standard testing & CCCSS? See question 15 in General Questions. 20. What metrics will be used to determine student success? Initial draft Academic Level Descriptors (ALDs) were developed in October 2012 by K-12 teachers and administrators and higher education faculty from two and four-year colleges and universities representing Smarter Balanced Governing States. The ALDs are linked to an operational definition of college content-readiness, as well as a policy framework to guide score interpretation for high schools and colleges. It appears their will be four levels of ALDs How will free responses be scored? See question What will API scores be replaced with? California has taken several steps to revise its K 12 accountability program. Since its inception, the state s government has passed bills that influence the API accountability program. Senate Bill 1458 passed in 2012 required adding new indicators of student success to the index by In September 2013, AB 484 provides flexibility for the State Superintendent to make recommendations to the State Board of Education for changes to the current API and AYP accountability measures. RUSD will continue to follow the changes and update as needed. 23. Will there be a written paper/pencil assessment vs. smarter balance computer assessment? Smarter Balanced will make a paper-and-pencil version of the summative assessment available during a three-year transition period as schools and districts upgrade their technology. 12

13 24. Will there be critical thinking in the CCCSS assessments? CCCSS is designed to have students utilize critical thinking skills, with this said all indications show that the assessment will have students demonstrate their critical thinking skills. 25. What would the assessment window look like in 12 weeks? Students will not be tested for the entire twelve weeks. Schools and districts would be testing students for a defined period during this twelve week testing window. Special Education 1. Will this affect students who struggle or are identified as Special Education? (Alignment with there IEP goals)? IEP goals will be aligned with the new CCCSS, as they were previously aligned with the CA Content Standards. 2. What are modifications for students with disabilities? Modifications and accommodations are IEP specific this process is not affected by the implementation of the CCCSS. 13