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CONTENT AND INSTRUCTIONAL LOOK-FORS

IN THE COMMON CORE CLASSROOM

Mark G. Cacciatore, Ph.D.Education Program Development SpecialistOffice of Academic StandardsMark.cacciatore@doe.state.nj.us 609.292.3206

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INTRODUCTIONPoll Everywhere questions:

1) I know what to “look for” in a Common Core aligned classroom.

2) I am comfortable with coaching my teachers to implement the Common Core in their classrooms.

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WHY THE COMMON CORE?

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SO, WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?

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TODAY’S OBJECTIVES/ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1) What are instructional look-fors in English language arts and mathematics that I should observe as a principal and instructional leader?

2) What actions do I need to ensure are happening in my school in terms of the Common Core?

3) How does the Common Core inform instruction in the mathematics classroom?

4) How does the Common Core inform instruction in the ELA classroom?

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AGENDA

9:00 – 9:30 Reintroducing the Shifts

9:30 – 11:30 Mathematics and the CCSS

11:30 – 12:30 Lunch

12:30 – 2:30 English language arts and the CCSS

2:30 – 3:00 Synthesis, Feedback/Evaluation

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ESSENTIAL ACTIONS FOR LEADERS

Know the

Shifts

9 KNOW THE SHIFTS!

Content and Instructional Look-fors in the Common Core Classroom

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“Ensuring that the Standards are implemented with fidelity means that the core shifts in literacy and math are clearly visible and driving teaching and learning.

By David Coleman, Susan Pimentel, and Jason Zimba

Common Core Alignment VS.

Common Core Compliance

KNOW THE SHIFTS: THREE CORE SHIFTS TO DELIVER ON THE PROMISE OF THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS IN LITERACY AND MATH

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KNOW THE SHIFTS: WHAT ARE THE CORE SHIFTS?English language arts Mathematics

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KNOW THE SHIFTS: 3 SHIFTS OF THE COMMON CORE

English language arts

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

Mathematics

1. 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.

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KNOW THE SHIFTS: MATHEMATICS

Shifts in Mathematics: A Conversation

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KNOW THE SHIFTS: ELA

Shifts in ELA Literacy: A Conversation

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WHAT DO THE SHIFTS LOOK LIKE ON PARCC?

Content and Instructional Look-fors in the Common Core Classroom

ADVANCES IN THE PARCC

ELA/LITERACY ASSESSMENT

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PARCC’S CORE COMMITMENTS TO ELA/LITERACY ASSESSMENT QUALITY

Texts Worth Reading: Authentic texts worthy of study instead of artificially produced or commissioned passages. 

Questions Worth Answering: Sequences of questions that draw students into deeper encounters with texts rather than sets of random questions of varying quality.

Better Standards Demand Better Questions: Custom items written to the Standards instead of reusing existing items.

Fidelity to the Standards: PARCC evidences are rooted in the language of the Standards so that expectations remain the same in both instructional and assessment settings.

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PARCC DESIGN FOR ELA1. Complexity: Regular practice with complex text and its

academic language.2. Evidence: Reading and writing grounded in evidence

from text, literary and informational. 3. Knowledge: Building knowledge through content rich

nonfiction.

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ADVANCES IN THE PARCC MATHEMATICS

ASSESSMENT

August 2012

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PARCC’S CORE COMMITMENTS TO MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENT QUALITY

Focus: Items will focus on major, and additional and supporting content.

Problems worth doing: Problems will include conceptual questions, applications, multi-step problems and substantial procedures.

Better Standards Demand Better Questions: Custom items written to the Standards instead of reusing existing items.

Fidelity to the Standards : PARCC evidences are rooted in the language of the Standards so that expectations remain the same in both instructional and assessment settings.

Factors that determine the performance levels (Cognitive Complexity)

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Cognitive Complexi

ty

1. Mathematical Content

2. Mathematical Practices

3. Stimulus Material4. Response Mode5. Processing

Demand

PARCC DESIGN FOR MATH1. Focus: The PARCC Assessment will focus strongly where the

Standards focus2. Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics

within grades3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding,

procedural skill and fluency, and application.

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PARCC ITEM ANALYSISELA/Literacy and Mathematics

24 MATHEMATICS: PARCC ITEMS

TURN & TALK Read the PARCC Claims

for Mathematics on the following slide (even if you are not a math teacher).

Talk to a partner about what these claims might mean in terms of instruction, curriculum, and assessment

Master Claim: On-Track for college and career readiness. The degree to which a student is college and career ready (or “on-track” to being ready) in mathematics. The student solves grade-level

/course-level problems in mathematics as set forth in the Standards for Mathematical Content with connections to the Standards for Mathematical Practice. 

Sub-Claim A: Major Content1 with Connections

to PracticesThe student solves problems involving the Major Content1

for her grade/course with connections to the Standards

for Mathematical Practice.

Sub-Claim B: Additional & Supporting Content2 with Connections to PracticesThe student solves problems involving the Additional and Supporting Content2 for her

grade/course with connections to the Standards for

Mathematical Practice.

Sub-Claim E: Fluency in applicable grades (3-6)The student demonstrates fluency as set forth in the

Standards for Mathematical Content in her grade.

PARCC CLAIMS STRUCTURE: MATHEMATICS

Sub-Claim C: Highlighted Practices MP.3,6 with

Connections to Content3

(expressing mathematical reasoning)

The student expresses grade/course-level appropriate

mathematical reasoning by constructing viable arguments,

critiquing the reasoning of others, and/or attending to

precision when making mathematical statements.

Sub-Claim D: Highlighted Practice MP.4 with Connections to Content (modeling/application)

The student solves real-world problems with a degree of difficulty appropriate to the grade/course by applying knowledge and skills

articulated in the standards for the current grade/course (or for more complex problems, knowledge and skills articulated in the standards for previous grades/courses), engaging particularly in the Modeling

practice, and where helpful making sense of problems and persevering to solve them (MP. 1),reasoning abstractly and

quantitatively (MP. 2), using appropriate tools strategically (MP.5), looking for and making use of structure (MP.7), and/or looking for

and expressing regularity in repeated reasoning (MP.8).

PARCC ITEM ANALYSIS Below you will find examples of PARCC test items for

ELA/Literacy and Mathematics; 6 for ELA/Literacy & 6 for Math

Read each question very carefully, and try to answer the following questions:

How are the “Shifts” represented in the items? What is the item asking the students to do? What types of skills and/or content knowledge is necessary to correctly

answer the question(s)?

Record your thoughts starting on Slide 32 (Math) & Slide 40 (ELA/Literacy)

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Math Sample 1

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Math Sample 2

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Math Sample 3

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Math Sample 4

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Math Sample 5

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Math Sample 6High School

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Math Items

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

ELA/LITERACY ITEMS

TURN & TALK Read the PARCC Claims

for ELA on the following slide (even if you are not an ELA teacher).

Talk to a partner about what these claims might mean in terms of instruction, curriculum, and assessment

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ELA/LITERACY CLAIMS FOR THE PARCC

Grade 3ELA Sample 1

ELA Sample 2

Grade 7 ELA Sample 2

ELA Sample 3Grade 7

GRADE 9: “FIELDS OF FINGERPRINTS: DNA TESTING FOR CROPS.”

ELA Sample 4

ELA Sample 5

Grade 10

GRADE 11Both John and Abigail Adams believed strongly in freedom and independence. However, their letters suggest that each of them understood these terms differently based on their experiences.

Write an essay that explains their contrasting views on the concepts of freedom and independence. In your essay, make a claim about the idea of freedom and independence and how John and Abigail Adams add to that understanding and/or illustrate a misunderstanding of freedom and independence. Support your response with textual evidence and inferences drawn from all three sources.

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ELA Sample 6

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ELA Items

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

45ALIGNED INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Content and Instructional Look-fors in the Common Core Classroom

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GOALS FOR MATHEMATICS: 3 SHIFTS VISUALIZED

CCSSM

Focus Coherence Rigor

Conceptual

Understanding

Fluency Application

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MATHEMATIC PRACTICE: HABITS OF MIND MP1 Make sense of problems and

persevere in solving them.

MP2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

MP3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

MP4 Model with mathematics.

MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically.

MP6 Attend to precision.

MP7 Look for and make use of structure.

MP8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

What ideas about teaching and learning do the practices bear to mind?

What instructional assumptions do the practices imply?

What do these practices look like in the classroom? How do you know?

Do these practices harmonize with your teacher evaluation system?

Are teachers aware of these practices and do they consciously try to bring them to life in the classroom?

Are teachers infusing these practices in their lesson and unit plans?

Adapted from CCSSM

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ALIGNED INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Student Engagement

& Achievemen

t

Mathematic

Practices

Common Core Shifts

(Content)

49 THE COMMON CORE IN ACTION Analyzing Instruction from the Common Core Perspective

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MATHEMATICS: CCSS INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE GUIDE

Lesson: Analyze patterns and relationships

Grade: 5/6

Description: Fran Dickinson leads a lesson on numeric patterning, helping students to investigate a numeric pattern and to generalize what they see happening as the pattern grows.

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MATHEMATICS: CCSS INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE GUIDE

Lesson: Proof of the properties of quadrilaterals

Grade: 9/10

Description: Cathy Humphreys leads an extended exploration of a proof of the properties of quadrilaterals, helping students learn to investigate, formulate, conjecture, justify, and ultimately prove mathematical theorems. In these clips, students engage in the first of two block-length explorations of their proofs. 

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CULMINATING MATH ACTIVITY What “Look-fors” will you

take away today in terms of mathematics?

What are some areas where I can immediately help my teachers?

Can I turnkey any of this information?

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ACHIEVETHECORE.ORG: CCSS INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE GUIDE

Use the Instructional Practice Guides for:

Teacher self-reflectionPeer-to-peer observation and feedbackInstructional coaching

54 ELA/LITERACY

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INTERDISCIPLINARY FOUNDATIONSThe ELA/Literacy Shifts

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

Literacy in the Other Disciplines

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DISTRIBUTION OF LITERARY AND INFORMATIONAL PASSAGES BY GRADE IN THE 2009 NAEP READING FRAMEWORK

Grade Literary Informational4 50% 50%8 45% 55%12 30% 70%Source: National Assessment Governing Board. 2008. Reading Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress . Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNICATIVE PURPOSES BY GRADE IN THE 2011 NAEP WRITING FRAMEWORK

Grade Level Opinion Informative/ Explanatory

Argumentative

Narrative

K–5 X X X6–12 X X X

Grade To Persuade/Argue

To Explain To Convey Experience

4 30% 35% 35%8 35% 35% 30%12 40% 40% 20%

Source: National Assessment Governing Board. 2010. Writing Framework for the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (Prepublication edition). Washington, DC: National Assessment Governing Board.

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COMMON CORE READING FRAMEWORK

Increased quantity of materials and instructional time devoted to informational text

English Language Arts

Literaturefiction, drama,

poetry

Literary Nonfiction: i.e. essays,

speeches, and autobiographies or biographies.

Social Studies, Science, Technical SubjectsOther informational Text: i.e.

expository, argumentative, and persuasive texts; procedural text and documents; primary source materials

Source: Adapted from the South Carolina State Board of Education: http://ed.sc.gov/agency/programs-services/190/ccss-support/documents/CCSS_ELA_6-12_PPT_2-29-12.pdf

59WORKING WITH TEXT

What to Look-For in ELA/Literacy

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KEY TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS Step One: Identify the Core Understandings and Key Ideas of the Text

Step Two: Start Small to Build Confidence

Step Three: Target Vocabulary and Text Structure (including syntax)

Step Four: Tackle Tough Sections Head-on

Step Five: Create Coherent Sequences of Text-dependent Questions

Step Six: Identify the Standards That Are Being Addressed

Step Seven: Create the Culminating Assessment

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TWO AVENUES FOR TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS

Close Readings of Text While TeachingPre-planned Questions Before Teaching

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TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS: ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL

Abraham Lincoln’sSecond Inaugural Address Saturday, March 4, 1865

Lincoln TDQs

Sample TDQs

Common Core State Standard: RI.11-12.9

Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.

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TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS

A Pathway for the Future of Education

Ten Questions Plus a Culminating Assessment

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ELA: CCSS INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE GUIDE

Close Reading - Vocab Focus - Grade 1 Close Reading, Grade 4 5th grade guided reading lesson Close Reading, Grade 6 social studies High School

ELA, Do Memories Change with the Passage of Time Literacy in Physics: Reading a Primary Source Social Studies: FDR’s 1933 Inaugural Address

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CULMINATING ELA/LITERACY ACTIVITY What “Look-fors” will you

take away today in terms of ELA/Literacy?

What are some areas where I can immediately help my teachers?

Can I turnkey any of this information?

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ESSENTIAL ACTIONS FOR LEADERS1. Spread the Message of

the Shifts!2. Plan Professional

Development Activities around the Core

3. Support Aligned Instructional Practice

Instructional Practice Guides

4. Align Assessments (more on next slide)

5. Align Materials (more on next slide)

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ALIGNMENT OF MATERIALS & ASSESSMENTS Understanding by Design

Start with the end in mind EQuIP Quality Rubric

Data-Driven PLC work

Examples of Common Core Aligned Assessment

Appendix C of Common Core ELA/Literacy

Achievethecor.org Benchmarking System

QUESTIONS:

What types of assessments do you see in your building?

Are they in ALIGNMENT with the Common Core or in COMPLIANCE with the Common Core?

How can I get my instructional staff on board with Common Core assessment?

What is the relationship to PARCC?

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TEACHER EVALUATION AND THE COMMON CORE Charlotte Danielson “I think the common core rests on a view of teaching as complex decision making, as opposed

to something more routine or drill-based. That's a view I've always taken as well.” “But when I walk into a classroom, of course I care about what the teacher is doing, but in some

ways I care even more about what the students are doing.” “The framework has always been grounded in the same fundamental assumptions as the

common standards—for example, the importance of student conceptual understanding and of student intellectual engagement.”

Robert Marzano “Second order changes are the great, seismic shifts in practice and understanding that

occasionally happen in any profession or domain. They are different in type from first order change, which is often superficial and determined from the top down.”

“Here's a sobering thought. In a recent National Journal series, John Bailey warned school leaders to be aware that Common Core standards in themselves aren't enough to significantly impact student learning.”

“Teachers will be required to make their own cognitively complex leaps to develop and align their classroom practice to the demands of Common Core. The one key to their success: Guided, deep, and continuous professional development.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What would represent evidence that the shifts are happening in your school?

How do you collect evidence (e.g., lesson plans, observations, assignments, graded student work)?

What could you use to determine whether the evidence adequately reflects the Common Core's demands?

Are instructional staff engaged in conversation regarding the CCSS?

Is instruction aligned to the Common Core? How do you know? Why should teachers and instructional leaders care deeply about

the CCSS?

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What do you think is possible?

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FEEDBACK

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LookFors3-28-14

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REFERENCES/RESOURCESAchievethecore.org (2013). CCSS Implementation for Leaders: Essential actions and tools for

implementation in a school or district. Retrieved September 16, 2013, from http://www.achievethecore.org/leadership-tools-common-core/overview/

Achievethecore.org (2013). Instructional Leadership and the Common Core. Retrieved September 24, 2013 from http://www.achievethecore.org/page/403/instructional-leadership-and-the-common-core

Coleman, D., Pimentel, S., & Zimba, J. (2012). Three Core Shifts to Deliver on the Promise of the Common Core State Standards in Literacy and Math. Achievethecore.org. retrieved September 16, 2013 from http://www.achievethecore.org/leadership-tools-common-core/professional-development/instructional-leadership-and-common-core/

Common Core in Vermont (2013). Hunt Videos: Math. Retrieved September 16, 2013 from https://sites.google.com/site/commoncoreinvermont/home/hunt-institute-video/hunt-videos-math

Council of Chief State School Officers (2013). Common Core Implementation Video Series. Retrieved September 24, 2013 from http://www.ccsso.org/resources/digital_resources/common_core_implementation_video_series.html

Inside Mathematics (2013). Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice. Retrieved September 16, 2013 from http://www.insidemathematics.org/index.php/commmon-core-math-intro

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REFERENCES/RESOURCESMarzano Center (2013). Common Core and the Art and Science of Teaching Series.

Retrieved September 16, 2013 from http://www.marzanocommoncore.com/

Mathematics Common Core Tool Box (2014). Retrieved from http://www.ccsstoolbox.com/

National Association of Secondary School Principals (2013). Common Core State Standards. Retrieved September 24, 2013 from http://www.nassp.org/knowledge-center/topics-of-interest/common-core-state-standards

Rebora, A. (2013). Interview: Charlotte Danielson on Teaching and the Common Core. Education Week. Retrieved September 16, 2013 from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/03/13/ccio_danielson_teaching.html?r=1169541628

Teacher Tube (2013). Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy. Retrieved September 24, 2013 from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/common-core-standards-ela