Issue 146: Aug 22, 2011 Connections Newsletter

Learning-Focused and Common Core State Standards

Sue Ellen Patterson
Oct 24, 2011

How can you transform the promise of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into a focus on learning experiences in your classrooms?

 

First and foremost, in order to understand what the CCSS are intending for students to learn, you must explore the Common Core State Standards document.Learning about the CCSS is very different from transforming the CCSS to classroom learning.There is no substitute for actually reading - a careful, purposeful reading - the standards documents and appendices. This should be a collaborative endeavor to discuss, analyze, and reach mutual decisions about how to move your school/district toward our nation's shared goals for student achievement.

 

To help you understand about the document and the design of the CCSS, Juley Harper developed a "Treasure Hunt" which can be found here. This is meant to provide an orientation to the document's organization and to help you gain a deeper understanding of the CCSS.

 

Teachers (in grade level teams, subject area teams, cross-discipline teams, and with special service providers that provide specific interventions/support) will need to clearly understand what will and will not change by asking:

1. How do my current standards compare to the expectations of the CCSS?

2. What impact will the CCSS have on lesson planning, assessment and instruction in my classroom?

3. What help and support do I need from professional development?

 

Leaders and teachers will need to transform the CCSS into classroom experiences that are focused, purposeful, and about improving the quality of instruction.

LEARNING-FOCUSED provides a research-based and evidence-based framework for connecting all the components that define quality standards-based instruction.It is the most comprehensive model available for guiding teachers to see the connection from standards documents to -

* Identifying what students will know, understand, and do
* Looking at both the vertical and horizontal articulation of the standards
* Clarifying the knowledge, skills and key learning
* Examining the importance of text complexity
* Planning standards-driven assessments
o Formative - embedded in instruction
o Summative - Student demonstration of knowledge, skills, and key learning
* Reviewing current units to increase the level of rigor/thinking expected
* Planning instructional experiences focused on deeper understandings

As districts throughout our nation develop action plans for the implementation of the CCSS, they will need to commit to a singular, focused framework around which all components of quality practices evolve.The LEARNING-FOCUSED model assists schools and districts with systematically and effectively implementing the CCSS.The LEARNING-FOCUSED model moves teachers and leaders from seeing standards documents as merely words on a page, to a new vision for actions in the classroom that are laser focused on student achievement.

 

Resource:

Transforming Standards, Max Thompson, Learning Focused, 2010