Understanding the Common Core State Standards

Understanding the
Common Core State
Standards
March 2012

Why Common Core State Standards?
2
We need them because
Disparate standards across the states
Global, not neighborhood competition
For many young people, high school wasn’t preparing them for college or
careers
Why the CCSS Are Important
Prepare students with knowledge and skills to succeed in college and
career
Ensure consistent expectations regardless of a student’s zip code
Provide educators, parents and students with clear, focused guideposts
Offer economies of scale and sharing of best practices

Why Common Core State Standards?
Preparation: The standards are college- and career-ready. They will help
prepare students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in
education and training after high school.
Competition: The standards are internationally benchmarked. Common
standards will help ensure our students are globally competitive.
Equity: Expectations are consistent for all – and not dependent on a
student’s zip code.
Clarity: The standards are focused, coherent, and clear. Clearer standards
help students (and parents and teachers) understand what is expected of
them.
Collaboration: The standards create a foundation to work collaboratively
across states and districts, pooling resources and expertise, to create
curricular tools, professional development, common assessments and other
materials.
3

The Common Core State Standards Initiative
4
Beginning in the spring of 2009, Governors and state
commissioners of education from 48 states, 2 territories
and the District of Columbia committed to developing a
common core of state K-12 English-language arts (ELA)
and mathematics standards.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI)
was a state-led effort coordinated by the National
Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief
State School Officers (CCSSO).
www.corestandards.org

Common Core State Standards Design
5
Building on the strength of current state standards, the
CCSS are designed to be:
Focused, coherent, clear and rigorous
Internationally benchmarked
Anchored in college and career readiness*
Evidence- and research-based
*Ready for first-year credit-bearing, postsecondary coursework in mathematics
and English without the need for remediation.

Process
6
K-12 Common Standards:
Core writing teams in English Language Arts and Mathematics (See
www.corestandards.org for list of team members)
External and state feedback teams provided on-going feedback to writing
teams throughout the process
Draft K-12 standards were released for public comment on March 10, 2010;
9,600 comments received
Validation Committee of leading experts reviews standards
Final standards were released June 2, 2010

Common Core State Standards Evidence Base
Evidence was used to guide critical decisions in the following areas:
7
Inclusion of particular content
Timing of when content should be introduced and the progression of that
content
Ensuring focus and coherence
Organizing and formatting the standards
Determining emphasis on particular topics in standards
Evidence includes:
Standards from high-performing countries, leading states, and nationally-regarded
frameworks
Research on adolescent literacy, text complexity, mathematics instruction,
quantitative literacy
Lists of works consulted and research base included in standards’ appendices

Common Core State Standards Evidence Base
For example: Standards from individual high-performing countries and
provinces were used to inform content, structure, and language. Writing
teams looked for examples of rigor, coherence, and progression.
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Mathematics
1. Belgium (Flemish)
2. Canada (Alberta)
3. China
4. Chinese Taipei
5. England
6. Finland
7. Hong Kong
8. India
9. Ireland
10. Japan
11. Korea
12. Singapore
English language arts
1. Australia
• New South Wales
• Victoria
2. Canada
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Ontario
3. England
4. Finland
5. Hong Kong
6. Ireland
7. Singapore

Feedback and Review
9
External and State Feedback teams included:
K-12 teachers
Postsecondary faculty
State curriculum and assessments experts
Researchers
National organizations (including, but not limited, to):
 American Council on Education (ACE)
 American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
 Campaign for High School Equity
(CHSE)
 Conference Board of the Mathematical
Sciences (CBMS)
 Modern Language Association (MLA)
 National Council of Teachers of English
(NCTE)
 National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (NCTM)
 National Education Association (NEA)

46 States + DC Have Adopted the
Common Core State Standards
10
* Minnesota adopted the CCSS in ELA only

Common Core State
Standards for
Mathematics

Key Instructional Shifts in Mathematics
The Common Core State Standards emphasize coherence at each grade
level – making connections across content and between content and
mathematical practices in order to promote deeper learning.
The standards focus on key topics at each grade level to allow educators
and students to go deeper into the content.
The standards also emphasize progressions across grades, with the end
of progression calling for fluency – or the ability to perform calculations or
solving problems quickly and accurate.
The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe mathematical “habits of
mind” or mathematical applications and aim to foster reasoning, problem
solving, modeling, decision making, and engagement among students.
Finally, the standards require students to demonstrate deep conceptual
understanding by applying them to new situations.
Source: 12

Organization of Common Core State
Standards for Mathematics
13
Grade-Level Standards
K-8 grade-by-grade standards organized by domain
9-12 high school standards organized by conceptual categories
Standards for Mathematical Practice
Describe mathematical “habits of mind”
Connect with content standards in each grade

Standards for Mathematical Practice
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Eight Standards for Mathematical Practice
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
Reason abstractly and quantitatively
Construct viable arguments and critique the understanding of others
Model with mathematics
Use appropriate tools strategically
Attend to precision
Look for and make use of structure
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

15
Overview of K-8 Mathematics Standards
The K- 8 standards:
The K-5 standards provide students with a solid foundation in whole
numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and
decimals
The 6-8 standards describe robust learning in geometry, algebra,
and probability and statistics
Modeled after the focus of standards from high-performing nations,
the standards for grades 7 and 8 include significant algebra and
geometry content
Students who have completed 7th grade and mastered the content
and skills will be prepared for algebra, in 8th grade or after

16
Overview of K-8 Mathematics Standards
Each grade includes an
overview of cross-cutting
themes and
critical areas of study

17
Format of K-8 Mathematics Standards
Domains: overarching ideas that connect topics across the grades
Clusters: illustrate progression of increasing complexity from grade to grade
Standards: define what students should know and be able to do at each grade
level

Overview of High School Mathematics
Standards
18
The high school mathematics standards:
Call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking
to real world issues and challenges
Require students to develop a depth of understanding and ability to
apply mathematics to novel situations, as college students and
employees regularly are called to do
Emphasize mathematical modeling, the use of mathematics and
statistics to analyze empirical situations, understand them better,
and improve decisions
Identify the mathematics that all students should study in order to be
college and career ready

Format of High School Mathematics Standards
Content/Conceptual categories: overarching ideas that describe strands of
content in high school
Domains/Clusters: groups of standards that describe coherent aspects of the
content category
Standards: define what students should know and be able to do at each
grade level
High school standards are organized around five conceptual categories:
Number and Quantity, Algebra, Functions, Geometry, and Statistics and
Probability
Modeling standards are distributed under the five major headings and are
indicated with a () symbol
Standards indicated as (+) are beyond the college and career readiness level
but are necessary for advanced mathematics courses, such as calculus,
discrete mathematics, and advanced statistics. Standards with a (+) may still
be found in courses expected for all students
19

20
Format of High School Mathematics Standards
Each content category
includes an overview
of the content found
within it

Model Course Pathways for Mathematics
Model Mathematics Pathways:
Developed by a panel of experts convened by Achieve, including many of
the standards writers and reviewers
Organize the content of the standards into coherent and rigorous courses
Illustrate possible approaches—models, not mandates or prescriptions for
organization, curriculum or pedagogy
Require completion of the Common Core in three years, allowing for
specialization in the fourth year
Prepare students for a menu of courses in higher-level mathematics
21

Courses in higher level mathematics: Precalculus, Calculus (upon completion of Precalculus),
Advanced Statistics, Discrete Mathematics, Advanced Quantitative Reasoning, or other
courses to be designed at a later date, such as additional career technical courses.
22
Model Course Pathways for Mathematics
Geometry
Algebra I
Pathway A
Traditional in U.S.
Mathematics II
Mathematics I
Pathway B
International Integrated approach (typical
outside of U.S.)
.
Algebra II
Mathematics
III

Common Core State
Standards for English
Language Arts and
Literacy in History/
Social Studies, Science,
and Technical Subjects

Key Instructional Shifts in ELA/Literacy
In Reading, the major advances are the shift away from literature-focused standards to a
balance of literature and informational texts to reflect college- and career-ready
expectations. There is also a greater focus on text complexity and at what level students
should be reading.
In Writing, there is a strong emphasis on argument and informative/ explanatory writing,
along with an emphasis on writing about sources or using evidence to inform an
argument.
The Common Core also include Speaking and Listening expectations, including a focus
on formal and informal talk, which can be done through presentations and group work.
The Language standards put a stress on both general academic and domain-specific
vocabulary.
The Common Core also address reading, writing and literacy across the curriculum, and
include literacy standards for science, social studies and technical subjects. These
standards complement rather than replace content standards in those subjects, and are
the responsibility of teachers in those specific disciplines, making literacy a shared
responsibility across educators.
Source: 24

25
Common Core State Standards for
English Language Arts and Literacy in
History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards
Overarching standards for each strand that are further defined by grade-specific
standards
Grade-Level Standards in English Language Arts
K-8, grade-by-grade
9-10 and 11-12 grade bands for high school
Four strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language
Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,
Standards are embedded at grades K-5
Content-specific literacy standards are provided for grades 6-8, 9-10, and
11-12

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Overview of Reading Strand
Reading
Progressive development of reading comprehension; students gain more
from what they read
Emphasize the importance of grade-level texts that are of appropriate
difficulty and are increasingly sophisticated
 Standards for Reading Foundational Skills (K-5)
 Reading Standards for Literature (K-12)
 Reading Standards for Informational Text (K-12)
 Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies (6-12)
 Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects (6-
12)

27
Overview of Text Complexity
Reading Standards include over exemplar texts (stories and literature,
poetry, and informational texts) that illustrate appropriate level of
complexity by grade
Text complexity is defined by:
1. Qualitative measures – levels of meaning,
structure, language conventionality and
clarity, and knowledge demands
2. Quantitative measures – readability and other
scores of text complexity
Reader and Task
3. Reader and Task – background knowledge of
reader, motivation, interests, and complexity
generated by tasks assigned

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Example of Grade-Level Progression in Reading
CCR Reading Standard 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and
ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Reading Standards for Literature Reading Standards for Informational Text
Grade 3: Describe characters in a story (e.g.,
their traits, motivations, or feelings) and
explain how their actions contribute to the
sequence of events.
Grade 3: Describe the relationships between a
series of historical events, scientific ideas of
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a
text, using language that pertains to time,
sequence, and cause/effect.
Grade 7: Analyze how particular elements of
a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting
shapes the characters or plot)
Grade 7: Analyze the interactions between
individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how
ideas influence individuals or events, or how
individuals influence ideas or events).
Grades 11-12: Analyze the impact of the
author’s choices regarding how to develop
and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g.,
where a story is set, how the action is
ordered, how the characters are introduced
and developed).
Grades 11-12: Analyze a complex set of ideas
or sequence of events and explain how specific
individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop
over the course of the text.

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Grade-Level Progression
Format highlights progression of standards across grades

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Overview of Writing Strand
Writing
Expect students to compose arguments and opinions,
informative/explanatory pieces, and narrative texts
Focus on the use of reason and evidence to substantiate an argument or
claim
Emphasize ability to conduct research – short projects and sustained
inquiry
Require students to incorporate technology as they create, refine, and
collaborate on writing
Include student writing samples that illustrate the criteria required to meet
the standards (See standards’ appendices for writing samples)

31
Overview of Speaking and Listening and
Language Strands
Speaking and Listening
Focus on speaking and listening in a range of settings, both formal and informal
– academic, small-group, whole-class discussions
Emphasize effective communication practices
Require interpretation and analysis of message as presented through oral,
visual, or multimodal formats
Language
Include conventions for writing and speaking
Highlight the importance of vocabulary acquisition through a mix of conversation,
direct instruction, and reading
To be addressed in context of reading, writing, speaking and listening
Media and Technology are integrated throughout the CCSS

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Overview of Standards for History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Reading Standards for History/Social Studies, Science,
Knowledge of domain-specific vocabulary
Analyze, evaluate, and differentiate primary and secondary sources
Synthesize quantitative and technical information, including facts presented
in maps, timelines, flowcharts, or diagrams
Writing Standards for History/Social Studies, Science,
Write arguments on discipline-specific content and informative/explanatory
texts
Use of data, evidence, and reason to support arguments and claims
Use of domain-specific vocabulary

Understanding the Common Core State Standards

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