Embedded Files
As we work towards the vision of a high school curriculum centered around the teaching of the Common Core standards, we decided to keep a list of resources, articles, and blogs about the Common Core initiative. While we have a long way to go, we feel that it is important to track our progress and document our successes and our setbacks. According to the introduction of the CCSS: "These Standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the next step. It is time for states to work together to build on lessons learned from two decades of standards based reforms. It is time to recognize that these standards are not just promises to our children, but promises we intend to keep." (A note to Maine West's Math Staff: You can also access all of our CCSS documents through Google Docs.)
The CCSS and PARCC Documents
Standards for Mathematical Practice - Eventually we should be able to say with confidence that a Maine West graduate should be able to demonstrate each mathematical practice. Big Ideas made some videos showing students demonstrating each of the practice standards.
Expanded CCSS for Math - Contains the Overall Standards Introduction, Standards-setting Criteria,
Standards-setting Considerations, Applications of the Standards for English Language Learners (ELLs) and Students with Disabilities,
CCSS Mathematics Pathways - Appendix A - Designing HS Math based on the CCSS
Key Points of Math Common Core - Very important document outlining the change of curriculum from K through 12
PowerPoints about Common Core - A link to a collection of Common Core PowerPoints.
PARCC - 25 states (including Illinois) joined together to form the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers or PARCC. The goal is to create an assessment system to assess and support students and teachers.
IMPORTANT NEWS FROM PARCC - 6-30-11 A summary and a couple links concerning PARCC's decision to go to two manditory assessments (both given at the end of each school year) and two other optional assessments.
PARCC Model Content Frameworks for Mathematics - PARCC's final draft of the frameworks released on 11/9/2011. Here is the first draft. These frameworks were developed through a collaborative state-led process among state experts and members of the Common Core State Standards writing teams. The Model Content Frameworks serve two main purposes. They provide support and guidance for implementation of the Common Core State Standards and information that will inform the design and development of PARCC assessments in grades 3–8 and high school. The page with supporting documents and commentary (including webinar) can be found at http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-content-frameworks.
PARCC Item Development - A first look at what we can expect as far as the assessment items of the future PARCC exam.
PARCC Teacher Resources - This is from the new PARCC site.
(NEW) PARCC Draft Discussion of College Readiness - Interesting early discussion of what college readiness is and how the PARCC assessments will inform all interested parties about students who are deemed college Ready.
PARCC FAQ - Just what it says...
Video about PARCC - A link to a video about the history of the two assessments. Here is a direct link to the video of Laura Slover, Senior Vice President, Achieve discusses PARCC on Monday, June 6, 2011, during the PARCC Transition & Implementation Institute held at Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center at National Harbor, Maryland. Here is a link to many videos from PARCC.
PowerPoints about PARCC - A link to a collection of PARCC PowerPoints.
Common Core Implementation Workbook - Achieve and the U.S. Education Delivery Institute have developed a practical Common Core Implementation Workbook for all states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). The workbook uses a proven performance management methodology known as “delivery” to lay out clear action steps for states and districts. It provides relevant information, case stories of good practice, key questions and hands-on exercises for leadership teams to complete together. Regardless of your state's timeline, the workbook offers state and district leaders the means to plan for the CCSS and then drive successful implementation.
Follow Common Core on Twitter
Progressions Documents for the Common Core Math Standards - Dr. Bill McCallum for the Univeristy of Arizona; The Common Core State Standards in mathematics were built on progressions: narrative documents describing the progression of a topic across a number of grade levels, informed both by research on children's cognitive development and by the logical structure of mathematics. These documents were spliced together and then sliced into grade level standards. From that point on the work focused on refining and revising the grade level standards. This project is organizing the writing of final versions of the progressions documents for the K–12 Common Core State Standards. The work will be undertaken by members of the original work team of the progressions and also by mathematicians and educators not involved in the initial writing.
You want to compare? Do you want to see how the CCSS stack up to other math standards in this country and around the world? Achieve has put together a comparison that is pretty detailed.
PARCC Calculator Policy - This is what PARCC has released about its calculator policy for the upcoming exams.
CCSSI: An Independent Look at the Common Core State Standards Initiative - Independent bloggers look at the standards and assessments.
Course and Sequence Resources - from Dana Center and Agile Mind
ISBE Recommended Resources - List of CCSSM Resources
PARCC High School Assessment Reference Sheet
PARCC Performance Level Descriptors: Mathematics - This link shows the different levels of performance level descriptors for each standard by course or grade level. This is from July of 2013.
PARCC Sample Items and Prototypes - Shows the sample test items and sample computerized prototypes for the new PARCC assessment. Folder of sample items and recent sample items.
Maine West Math Department Resources and Rationale
West Math Power Standards - (Must have D207 login to access) This document describes the standards selected by the math department's PLCs from the CRS and CCSS that are the key standards for each course.
March 2011 Newsletter Blurb - This blurb will be included in the March 2011 Principal's Newsletter and includes a summary of the department's plan for implementation of the CCSS.
West's Literacy Framework - Whenever we do anything related to literacy (think Mathematical Practices), we should do it according to the Literacy Framework and according to the students' progression through Boot Camp, Base Camp, Trek, and Summit timelines.
Maine Township Informational CCSS Mathematical Practices PDF/PowerPoint - We will use this PowerPoint/PDF on a township level in some form to help our teachers and students to understand the 8 standards of mathematical practice. The goal of this resource is to provide the tool so everyone is speaking the same language and we know what it looks like in practice.
Tentative Departmental Timeline and Plan - This is the PDF I shared with the department on 4/29/11. All future items were open for debate. They were my best guesses to trying to meet our goal.
Funny little video on the CCSS implementation
LiveBinders (Math collection) - Very cool. This is where we will be collecting and creating online binders of resources and information to help with the professional development of our math staff. The binders include the latest Common Core initiatives at every level (K-12) in the district {coming soon} and a comprehensive collection of resources to help every professional in the districts. Email Mike Smith, West's Math Chair, for the passcode.
Educational Websites and Resources:
CCSS Math Documents - Great collection of links from Debbie Waggoner
ICTM CCSS Resource Page - Great collection of resources from the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics
LiveBinders - One of many sites with CCSS resources and information.
Kansas Association of Mathematics Teachers CCSS Collection - Great collection of resources including some great flipbooks for every grade level.
Model Course Pathways in Mathematics - A summary from achieve.org of the pathways described in Appendix A of the CCSS.
Look at what OHIO is doing! Wow. They have created many resources for this transition. Check them out!
Understanding the K-12 CCSS in Math - PDF from achieve.org shares some of how to transition to the CCSS.
Common Core Assessments - (http://www.k12center.org/) A PDF that has summaries of the 2 assessments being developed for the Common Core. Overview of PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College) assessment/timeline and SBAC (SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium) assessment/timeline is discussed. Illinois has adopted PARCC.
Mathematics Assessment Project - MARS site has lessons, tasks, tests, and a great explanation of the CCSS Mathematical Practices.
Leader Ed - International Center for Educational Leadership.
Core 4 All - Blog and resource site for all things CC.
Lead and Learn - The Leadership and Learning Center link to upcoming presentations on the CCSS.
CCSS Initiative - Classroom Implications for 2014. Very good.
Inside Mathematics - This site is a professional resource for educators passionate about improving students' mathematics learning and performance.
NCSM - Leadership in mathematics education with a CCSS resource area.
Dr. McCallum Blog - Blog set up and maintained by Dr. McCallum from the University of Arizona for the sharing of the progress in the development of tools to help educators with the CCSS for math.
Carnegie Learning Webinar Site - They have held some good CCSS webinars lately.
Illustrative Mathematics - Site from the University of Arizona designed to guide the work of states, assessment groups, and testing companies.
All Things Common Core - A blog site about all things common core. This link send you to the math area of the site.
All Things PLC (www.allthingsPLC.com) - As we move from course teams to professional learning teams (PLTs) and from worrying about what we are teaching to what our students are learning, this is THE site for all things PLC related.
Utah State Office of Education - Wow! Look what Utah is doing! Now they are going to be using a different assessment than the state of Illinois, but they have really got things in order and they have committed to the change. There are many levels to their site, but there are some important pieces. The have developed a year 1 course for the high school level and they have a clear plan of how they will introduce year 2 and 3 courses in the next two years. The curriculum is on the first page you get to.
Practical Applications of the New Common Assessments - Stan Heffner's presentation about CCSS and the two assessments.
Dan Meyer's Ted Talk - So Dan is a math teacher in California and he has been leading a revolution as far as the teaching of math goes. He has a blog that has excellent resources and he has a couple of Vimeo videos as well. He supports being "less helpful" in order to teach students math. He also uses technology as much as possible to engage his students. The lessons he is promoting would support our efforts to teach the new math standards in a new way. Here is a link to some of the resources of his presentations.
ck12 Flexbook - Alright, this is real cool. One of our concerns is that we will not be able to find a textbook that is just right depending on the pathway we choose and whether or not our courses are combined with science. This link is to a free, online textbook creation site. They have a number of math and science books with more being added. Here is the kicker. They are editable. We can create our own books using premade chapters from the books provided in any order. We can edit the content of the book included but not limited to adding graphics, videos, and any other text we want included. We can then print the books, save them as PDFs, and/or share a link to our book. THIS may be our answer.
Bill McCallum's Collection of CCSS Links - News about tools that are being developed to support implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
States' Progress and Challenges in Implementing Common Core State Standards - Center on Education Policy report on a survey of states.
Common Core Standards and Teacher Resources - After registering, teachers will have access to lesson plans that meet the CCSS.
Florida's Implementation Schedule
CommonCoreStandards.com - A collection of links about the CCSS including a page with some videos about the math CCSS and standards of mathematical practice.
National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) site focusing on the Common Core.
SpringBoard - College Board's new program? curriculum? that alligns to the CCSS through a traditional pathway
(NSDL) National Science Digital Library - According to the site: "The NSDL Math Common Core collection features digital learning resources that address concept and skills components of the Math Common Core State Standards. The collection is organized by grade level and domain, as defined within the Common Core documents. Resources in this collection include lesson plans, simulations, problem sets with explanations, student activities that provide feedback, and other interactives. The collection will continue to grow as new resources are added regularly."
NextGen RoadMap App from Pearson - A tool to help with the transition to the next generation assessments. Here is the PDF version of the tool.
p21 Common Core Toolkit - A guide to aligning the Common Core State Standards with the Framework for 21st Century Skills
Implementing Common Core State Standards and Assessments - A workbook for state and district leaders from Achieve.org
Rubrics for Evaluating Open Education Resource (OER) Objects - Achieve resource to help when evaluating resources.
Mathematics Deconstructed Standards - Kentucky's Department of Education has created the COMPLETE set of deconstructed standards for Mathematics. It is now available! These were created collaboratively by teachers and leaders across the Commonwealth. Please note that these deconstructions have been reviewed, edited, and revised based on feedback from internal and external reviewers.
Common Core Implementation Video Series - Resource compiled by the CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers). To further aid states as they continue to implement the Common Core State Standards (Standards), the Hunt Institute and the Council of Chief State School Officers have commissioned a series of video vignettes that explain the Standards in far greater depth.
Mathematics Common Core Coalition - The Mathematics Common Core Coalition works to provide expertise and advice on issues related to the effective implementation of the Common Core State Standards for School Mathematics (CCSSM). Members of the coalition are the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM), the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), the Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics (ASSM), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, and the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).
Tim Kanold's Blog - A MUST READ. This blog is dedicated to the improvement of K-12 school mathematics Teaching and Learning as well as the leadership growth and development of K-12 School educators and leaders. Primarily focused on ideas that support the growth of teacher and administrator learning teams and the ideals of professional learning communities - that understand the magnified impact on student learning caused by the meaningful and research affirmed work of PLC teams.
Problems without Figures - Great book of problems that really help students to discuss the math without being frozen of fear of not getting the correct numerical answer because none of the problems have all of the numbers to solve the problems. Some of the problems need editing due to the date the book was written, but it looks like a great resource.
Pearson's CCSS Resource Page - Pretty cool app that allows you to enter a math topic and it shows where the topic should be taught.
CorePlanner - this site allows you to create lessons linked to Common Core. I believe it will have resources as well.
Questioning - A great list of questions you can use in the classroom to raise the cognitive level of the discourse of your students.
Summaries of Webinars and Seminars Attended or Viewed
(must have D207 login to access)
Transitioning to the CCSS and Next Generation Assessments: Moving Beyond "A" - Webinar presented by Dr. Willard R. Daggot on 1/18/2011 that looked at the levels of the different state standards and assessments of the past and how they compare to the CCSS and the assessments to come.
Common Sense and the CCSS - Webinar presented by Cathy Seeley on 2/9/2011 that looked at some initial steps in implementing the CCSS.
Mathematics and the Common Core - Helping Illinois Educators Prepare for New Standards - Organized to help local school districts, school leaders, and mathematics teachers better understand the Common Core State Standards and encourage them to approach the new standards in productive and meaningful ways. The conference was held on February 16, 2011 at the UIC Forum.
CCSS Assessments Presentation - (11-10-2010) Presentation that was presented covering the assessments for the CCSS by Dr. Pascal Forgione and Nancy Doorey from the k12center.
PARCC - Presentation about the assessment from 2/2011
Pearson Webinar - (2-22-2011) Presentation by Dr. Wu for Pearson. It covered mostly how the teaching of the core topics should be handled at the K-8 grades as a progression of math concepts. The teaching of using fractions and find the area of rectangles were used as a demonstration of the differences between the old standards and the CCSS. List of future Pearson Webinars.
NCSM Webinar - (2-23-2011) - Diving Deeper into the CCSS for Math. Presented by NCSM.
Pearson Webinar - (2-23-2011) - Focus and Coherence in CCSS for Math. Presented by Dr. William McGallum who is the head of the math department at the University of Arizona.
ECC / EPIC - (4-19-2011) Defining College and Career Readiness in the State of Illinois. Presented by the epic, this workshop helped define the successful student and how partnerships could help our schools to turn out more successful students.
Collection of math CCSS videos from Phil Daro - Phil Daro is the chair of the Mathematics College and Career Readiness Standards Work Group; Writing Team, Mathematics K-12 Common Core Standards Committee. These videos are from America's Choice which is a company selling educational products, but Phil was a part of the CCSS creation team and is considered an expert in the area.
NCTM Session 4-15-11 The Common Core: Where do we go from here? - Presentation video and PDFs of slides from talk from William McCallum and Zalman Usiskin. Go to the bottom of the page.
NCSM Session 4-11-11 Translating the CC Effectively into Practice - Dr. Pamela Paek (Center for Assessment) presentation about learning progressions, alignment, computer adaptive tests, through-course assessments, high-stakes performance tasks, and computer-enhanced assessments.
Building the Tool Kit - How Teachers and Counselors can Equip and Empower Students for College and Career Readiness and Success given by Dr. David T. Conley, professor at University of Oregon and CEO at the Educational Policy Improvement Center.
Dr. Douglas B Reeves Discussing CCSS - Video from Dr. Reeves speaking about the CCSS (both English and math.) It is entitled Digging Deeper into the Common Core State Standards: Going Beyond Awareness to Implementation. The site has a video which is what I am linking to, but it also speaks about a conference in Chicago this summer. The conference is over two days. Maybe someone will be able to afford the $679 registration fee.... (Not me though!)
U.S. Department of Education to Host Second in a Series of Public Meetings on Race to the Top Assessment Program Implementation - The U.S. Department of Education will convene the second in a series of public meetings to provide technical assistance and support to the two consortia of states awarded grants under the Race to the Top Assessment program—the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). The meeting will be held in Chicago, Ill. on June 10 and will bring together an invitational panel of experts along with representatives from PARCC and SBAC to discuss the use of automated scoring in the new assessment systems being developed by grantees. The two consortia will discuss the challenges and opportunities afforded by the use of automated scoring with a small panel of invited experts. The meeting will be open to the public and there will be an opportunity for public comments following the panel discussion.
EdWeek Webinar 11-29-11 - Common Assessments: What You Need to Know. Presentation from leaders of the two assessments.
Supporting the Transition to the CCSS in Mathematics - Webinar by Skip Fennell. Briding Research to Practice. This is K-8 focused, but it is very good in explaining that system and how we will not have full implication until teachers can count on students having had the previous instruction in CCSS.
Articles and Press
Education Week article about study by ACT Inc. about initial Common Core proficiencies (login required)
Ed Week Article 2-11-2011 - Sharing the consortia's plans to expand their goals of the groups to include providing instructional tools to prepare students for the new, more rigorous assessments.
Ed Week Article 2-24-11 - AFT Presses Need for Curriculum Linked to Standards by Catherine Gewertz.
Ed Week Article 3-23-11 - A discussion about national curricula.
Ed Week Article 4-12-11 - Hurdles for Common Core Tests.
Ed Week Article 4-19-11 - Article talking about the technology issues that will come along with assessments meant to be taken on computers.
Ed Week Article 4-19-11 - More Argument, Fewer Standards by Mike Schmoker and Gerald Graff.
Article about Curriculum Alignment in Rhode Island - Warwick currciulum is model for math assessments nationwide by Matt Bower.
Ed Week Article 5-9-11 - Article about a group of 100 leaders in education, business, and politics who are opposing the CCSS. Here is a link to the manifesto (Closing the Door on Innovation: Why One National Curriculum is Bad for America.)
NCTM CCSS Remarks - Commentary by NCTM's president, J. Michael Shaughnessy from May, 2011, called CCSSM and Curriculum and Assessment: NOT Business as Usual.
CNN.com Article 5-12-11 - How the US lags in math, science education, and how it can catch up. Michigan State University Distinguished Professor Bill Schmidt is the author of the forthcoming book "Inequalities for All: Why America Needs Common Core Standards."
Fordham's response to the opposing view to CCSS
Another Response - Three thoughts on Education This Week: The Wrongheaded Thinking of Greene and Cody. 5-2011 dropoutnation.com
Math Pilot Program not Adding Up for Some - Delaware Online article by Brian Resnick 5-16-2011 that shows that not everyone is excited about problem based lessons. The article also talks about how easy it will be to implement the CCSS in these types of lessons.
Article about Modeling and CCSS - Modeling: A Mathematical Practice and a Content Standard? by Sandy Berger on May 16, 2011.
NEA Today Article 5-17-2011 - Here Come the Common Core Standards by Cindy Long
Common Core's manifesto war: Hoover's Bill Evers predicts a national curriculum. Posted on 5-23 by John Fensterwald from Educated Guess. Talks about the current status of the manifesto war.
Ed Week Article 5-20-11 - Five myths about America's schools by Paul Farhi. Pretty good article that has nothing to do with the Common Core but it does point out some reality checks that we need to have.
Ed Week Blog 5-27-11 - Common-Standards Supports for Teachers Eyed by Stephen Sawchuk.
Denver Post 5-29-11 - Colorado Voices: Critical thinking in the age of Google by Thomas Greene. Talks about current state of our learners in this Google society.
Top Colleges Blog 5-11 - The Need for Remedial College Courses Remain a National Concern. this blog talks about how more and more students are needing a remedial course just to get to the regular college curricula. Many believe that the new definition of "College and Career Ready" should not be about ACT scores or even getting into a college. It should be about entering the regular curricula and suceeding in college and career. A change in the college entrance tests (currently the ACT for most schools) might help with this... (just my thought!)
Sine of the Times 5-26-11 - Change done right with the Common Core by Tim Pope. Talks about one district's experience implementing the CCSS.
OnPoint pivotlearning 5-20-11 - The More Things Change... posted on 5/20/2011 by Merrill Vargo. Opinion article explaining what issues are to be overcome if we are to see real change.
Trib local - Bolingbrook 5-2011 - VVSD ready to launch new K-5 math curriculum in fall by Larry Randa. Article about how a local elementary school district has made the CCSS changes already.
US News Article 5-25-2011 - U.S. Can Learn From Other Countries' Education Systems by Jason Koebler. A short article suggesting what we should do to catch other countries.
The Core Between the States - 5-23-2011 by Peter Wood
Education Next 6-2-2011 - How Big a Change are the CCSS by Frederick Hess.
Summary Report from the Conference “Moving Forward Together: Curriculum &
Assessment and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics”
NCTM Article on CCSS June 2011 - Assessment and the Common Core State Standards: Let’s Stay on Top of It! by president of the NCTM, J. Michael Shaughnessy.
EdWeek Blog 6-6-11 - Four Paths for the Future - The Futures of School Reform by Jal Mehta on 6-6-2011. A short blog about what lies ahead in school reform efforts and the choices we have ahead.
Keeping Current on the Common Core
“Ready” for College, But Not College Credit - Stephanie Porowski
Transitioning to Common Core in a Large Urban District - PARCC Online; by Diane Fischer, Elementary Math Assistant Principal, Rockford Public Schools, Illinois.
SpringBoard - Something from the College Board and a curriculum package? that aligns to the CCSS. Sample outlines for Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Pre-Calculus as well as Grade 6 Math, Grade 7 Math, and Grade 8 Math.
U.S. Middle Schoolers are Behind in Math by Melinda Burns 6-19-2011
No National Standards: Strength or Weakness for Schools in US? 6-15-2011 by Christopher Cruise.
How America Can Improve—And Compete—With High-Achieving Countries; The National Center on Education and Economy released a report that outlines key aspects of other educational systems
worldwide that are outperforming the U.S. By Charlotte Adinolfi June 2011
Ed Week - Consortia Flesh Out Visions for Common Tests 8-10-11 Cahterine Gewertz
Phoenix Rising: Bringing the Common Core Mathematics Standards to Life by Hung-Hsi Wu and published in the American Educator. This is a great article explaining the differences in the teaching that must take place to really teach the standards and have students learn math. We too often teach tricks so students can do math on the short term.
What are some Pros and Cons of the Common Core Standards by Derrick Meador, About.com Teaching Guide
Testing Consortium Crafts College-Readiness Definition by Catherine Gewertz. A 11/27/2012 article about how the test results should be interpreted. Article is mostly about SMART test but could be applied to PARCC as well.
A New Kind of Problem: The Common Core Math Standards by Barry Garelick. A 11/20/2012 article about students learning to problem solve.
Common Core Math is not fuzzy by Solomon Friedberg. A 9/15/2014 article from the Chair of the Math Department at Boston College.
Resources for a better understanding of the K-8 CCSS
Progressions - This project is organizing the writing of final versions of the progressions documents for the K–12 Common Core State Standards. The work will be undertaken by members of the original work team of the progressions and also by mathematicians and educators not involved in the initial writing.
CCSS Tools - News about tools that are being developed to support implementation of the Common Core State Standards as published by Bill McCallum.
Mr. Maffesoli Resource Page - Sample activities for teaching to K-8 CCSS
Developing Effective Fractions Instruction for Kindergarten through 8th Grade - IES Practice Guide from Institute of Education Sciences the What Works Clearinghouse
Sample Lessons - Teaching Video Channel. You can sort by grade level.
Ohio Documents: K-8 Math Progressions, K-8 Critical Areas of Focus, K-8 Critical Areas Progressions
Supporting the Transition to the CCSS in Mathematics - Webinar by Skip Fennell. Briding Research to Practice. This is K-8 focused, but it is very good in explaining that system and how we will not have full implication until teachers can count on students having had the previous instruction in CCSS.
Course and Sequence Resources - from Dana Center and Agile Mind
PARCC Sample Items and Prototypes - Shows sample questions for the new PARCC exam by grade level and type.
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