CTE and the
Common Core
Tom Thompson
Karin Moscon
Jennell Ives
Why Revisit This?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
40/40/20
Teacher effectiveness
New assessments
CTE as a solution
Interest from business and industry
Common elements of standards
College and Career Readiness
Where is CTE in the Math
Common Core?
Where is CTE in the ELA
Common Core?
Where is CTE in the
NGSS?
Connections
6
What’s New in Math?
Applied Math Project
How would you go about using
math to build this staircase?
Project Purpose
Create a collaborative model
for developing a technical
math course that meets
graduation requirements and
improves student performance
Joint Effort
• Oregon Department of Education
(ODE)
• National Research Center for Career
and Technical Education (NRCCTE)
• Lane County Education Service District
(ESD)
Three Year R&D
Phase 3: Year 3
Phase 2: Year 2
Phase 1: Year 1
Development teams
design instructional units
for trial implementation
in Year 2.
Development teams
implement the course
and refine the units for
a Year 3 test.
Technical math course
is implemented and
tested at pilot schools.
Key Features of the Model
• Be replicable
• Meet HS math levels, standards, or both
• Offer a systematic, intentional approach
(not episodic)
• Involve partnerships with career and
technical education (CTE)
Foci of Units
A combination of Algebra and Geometry
was situated in CTE-oriented units:
•
•
•
•
•
Manufacturing
Bridge
Staircase
Trusses
Electrical
•
•
•
•
Energy Transfer
Architecture
Animal House
Marketing
Student Measures
• Pre- and post-testing of mathematics ability in
tech math and comparison classrooms
(Accuplacer)
• Math Attitude Inventory (ATMI)
• Demographic student surveys
• Artifacts of student activities and
accomplishments
Year 3 Findings
• Significantly improved math attitudes over peers in
comparison classrooms
• Comparable math achievement to peers in
comparison classrooms
• Students with high pre-test scores improved over their
peers in geometry classes
Student Feedback
“I learned a lot now I will be able to help
my dad build a house this summer”
“ Math is starting to make sense to me”
“Working in teams is a lot of fun
someone always knows what to do.”
Emergent Principles
• Fostering partnerships between math and
CTE teachers.
• Emerging communities of practice.
• Math as a central feature of situated
problems and questions
• Adapting instruction within the units
• “We are teaching mathematics in
context: we are not CTE teachers.”
Implementing Instructional Shifts to Support
Student Transitions into CCSS
Please draw a number line on
a piece of paper

 Place a zero at one end of the number line, and 1
billion at the other end….
_________________________________________________
0
1 billion
On your number line, place where 1 million would
go….
How Much is a Million?

Business as Usual?

 The amount of information is exploding!
 In 1870 the information a person would
encounter in a lifetime is the same amount
of information now found in one issue of
the New York Times.
 The digital Universe has grown 1000% in the
last 2 years
 There are now 450,000 words in the English
Language. That’s 7times more than
William Shakespeare had to choose from.
What Do Students Need to
Know?

The majority of jobs our students will have
do not currently exist.
The technology they will use hasn’t been
invented yet
They will be solving problems that haven’t
even emerged yet.
Tools for Teachers:
Implementing Key Shifts in the CCSS
Oregon Common Core Shifts

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Increase Reading of Informational Text
Text Complexity
Academic Vocabulary
Text-based Answers
Increase Writing from Sources
Literacy Instruction in all Content Areas
Oregon CCSS Toolkit
http://www.ode.state.or.us/go/CommonCore
Common Core State Standards – ELA & Literacy Resources
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3359
24
Shift 1: Increase Reading of
Informational Text

• At least 50% of reading in elementary grades shifts to
informational (current estimate: 7%)
• By middle school, the percentage increases to 55%
(current estimate: 15%)
• By the end of high school, 70% (current est. 20%)
• This reflects the premise that to be college and careerready, students need to read an increasingly higher
percentage of informational text throughout the school
day. This can be difficult for students to accomplish
without strategies and practice.
Literacy in CTE

 This site is sponsored by the High Desert ESD, Office
of Career and Technical Education
http://www.cteliteracylessons.com/lesson_results.cfm
 On it you can find lesson plans with strategies to use
for supporting students. These strategies are from
the Literacy in CTE workshops.
Shift 1: Balance
Informational and Literary Text

What the Student Does
 Build Content Knowledge
 Gain exposure to the
world through reading
 Apply comprehension
strategies
What the Teacher Does
 Balance informational and
literary text
 Scaffold for informational
texts
 Teach “through” and “with”
informational text. This can
include various formats.
(books, essays, primary
documents, articles, the
internet, charts, graphs…)
Shift 2: Text Complexity

 Demands that college, careers, and citizenship place
on readers have increased over the last 50 years
 The difficulty of college textbooks, as measured by
Lexile scores, has increased over the past 50 years
 Many careers require reading complex technical text
 By college/career, students are expected to read
complex texts with a high level of independence
 Based on ACT test data, only 51% of high school
seniors are prepared for postsecondary reading
Shift 2: Text Complexity

What the Student Does
 Re-read texts to delve
deeper into meaning and
understanding
 Have a “balanced reading
diet”. Different texts for
different purposes. (easier
and harder to read)
 Tolerate frustration with
text and persevere to
comprehend.
What the Teacher Does
 Use texts with more
complexity at all grade
levels
 Match readers with
appropriate texts and tasks
 Provide scaffolded
instructional supports that
will lead to independence
 Engage as a learner with
other adults
Shift 3: Academic
Vocabulary

 Differences in students’ vocabulary levels is a
key factor in academic achievement disparity.
 Research suggests that if students are going to
grasp and retain words and comprehend text,
they need incremental, repeated exposure…to
the words they are trying to learn.
 Three tiers of words: emphasis on Tier 2 words
(academic vocabulary)
Three Tiers

 Tier 1: basic vocabulary, more common words that most
children will know: include high-frequency words, and usually
don’t have multiple meanings
 Tier two: Less familiar vocabulary found in “text and tests”.
They often are more precise or subtle forms of common words
-analyze, consider, integrate, synthesis
-saunter v. walk
 Tier three: Domain specific, critical to understanding the
concepts of a content. Usually low frequency use.
Ex. Isotope, peninsula
 Averil Coxhead
 Beck and McKeown
Shift 3: Academic
Vocabulary

What the Student Does
 Use “high octane” words
across content areas while
listening, speaking, reading
and writing
 Build a database around
“language as power”.
 Understand registers and
when to use
formal/informal language.
 Practice, practice, practice
What the Teacher Does
 Develop students’ ability to
use and access words
 Be strategic about which
words to focus on (tier 2)
 Help students understand
parts of words and patterns
 Help students with word
choices in writing
Student Organizations in CTE supporting use of language for jobs.
Shift 4: Text-based Answers

 Rich and rigorous conversations which are
dependent on students reading a central text or
multiple texts
 Greater emphasis in the standards for students to
make explicit references to textual evidence.
 Text based answers are grounded in text based
questions.
 Text based questions/answers provide more equity
in classrooms.
An issue of equality:
Time in class/text

More instructional time spent outside the text means
less time inside the text.
Departing from the text in classroom discussion
privileges only those who already have experience
with the topic.
It is easier to talk about our experiences than to
analyze the text—especially for students reluctant to
engage with reading/ writing.
The CCSS are College and Career Readiness
34
Standards.
Non-Examples and Examples
Not Text-Dependent
In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey
strikes out. Describe a time when you
failed at something.
In “Letter from a Birmingham
Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent
protest. Discuss, in writing, a time
when you wanted to fight against
something that you felt was unfair.
In “The Gettysburg Address”
Lincoln says the nation is dedicated
to the proposition that all men are
created equal. Why is equality an
important value to promote?
35

Text-Dependent
What makes Casey’s experiences at
bat humorous?
What can you infer from King’s
letter about the letter that he
received? Explain your reasoning
using examples from the letter.
“The Gettysburg Address” mentions
the year 1776. According to Lincoln’s
speech, why is this year significant
to the events described?
Text dependent or not?

1. According to this speech, why did
the North fight the civil war?
2. Have you ever been to a funeral or
gravesite?
3. Lincoln says that the nation is
dedicated to the proposition that “all
men are created equal.” Why is
equality an important value to
promote?
Shift 4: Text Based
Answers

What the Student Does
What the Teacher Does
 Find evidence to support
their argument
 Form judgments in a
scholarly fashion
 Analyze the arguments of
others
 Engage with the author
and understand why the
specific structure of the
text was used.
 Facilitate evidenced based
conversations about text
 Keep students “in the text”
 Identify questions and tasks
that are text dependent.
 Provide practice for students
to reason, justify and present
argument orally, in reading,
and in writing.
Shift 5: Increase Writing
from Sources

 Greater emphasis on the selection and use of
sources when writing to inform or to make an
argument
 Separate Claim dedicated to research/inquiry to
investigate and write about topics.
 Move toward performance tasks in assessments
that focus on research skills
 Research to Build and Present Knowledge one of
the College and Career Readiness Anchor
Standards for writing
CCSS focus is on Mastery of
three different types of writing:

 Narratives: Primarily in elementary
 HS only 20% dedicated to narrative
 Inform and explain
 Rendering complex information clearly: precision and
command of evidence is at the heart of their craft
 Argument
 Analytical writing: Makes good arguments based on evidence
 Short focused research projects: several throughout the year
 Extended research
 Content Areas: Understanding that writing remains coherent,
attention to grammar and conventions, but format will be
different.
Shift 5: Increase Writing
from Sources

What the Student Does
 Generate informational text
 Make arguments using
evidence
 Organize for
persuasion/argument
 Compare multiple sources
What the Teacher Does
 Spend less time on personal
narratives/ opinion papers.
 Present opportunities to write
from multiple sources
 Provide opportunities to
analyze and synthesize ideas
 Develop students’ voice so
that they can argue a point
with evidence
 Allow students to form and
articulate conclusions about
the text.
Shift 6:Literacy Across All
Content Areas

 Clear message that literacy is not just an ELA
issue
 Separate literacy standards: Literacy in
History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
 Correlates to the increased emphasis on reading
informational text
 Content area (domain-specific) text during ELA
instruction; attention to literacy through
listening, speaking, reading, and writing
throughout the curriculum in your class.
Shift 6: Literacy Across All
Content Areas
 Use texts for students
What the Student Does
 Build content knowledge
and understanding
through texts
 Comfortably use a
variety of texts: primary
source, internet, essays,
articles, speakers,
discussions, research
 Multiple short and
focused research projects
 Long term research
What the Teacher Does
to compare and arrive
at conclusions
 Give students
experiences with
multiple types of text in
real world experiences
 Provide students with
opportunities to speak,
read, and write within
the discipline.
Language and the Art of
Language

Language will be taking a new role in all
classrooms.
Argument
Justification
Collaboration
Inquiry
Analyzing
Presenting

 Subject area teachers integrate the literacy standards
into technical subjects and Career-Related Learning
Standards.
http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/real/newspap
er/Newspaper_Section.aspx?subjectcd=ELA
Link for Common Core State Standards for Literacy in
Science and Technical Subjects
Literacy Standards for Science
and Technical Subjects

handouts
 College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for
Reading
 Grade Specific Standards
 College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for
Writing
 Grade Specific Standards
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3801
Link to CCSS Toolkit for Content Area Literacy Implementation
Connections

46
Questions?

Karin Moscon
Oregon Department of Education
Civil Rights and Literacy Specialist
 Phone: 503-947-5706
 Email: karin.moscon@state.or.us
Oregon has new Science
Standards!
CTE can play a role
in helping students
apply scientific
practices
NGSS Vision
•
•
•
Learning as a developmental progression
Engaging students in scientific investigations
and argumentation to achieve deeper
understanding of core science ideas
Integrating the knowledge of scientific
explanations and the practices needed to
engage in scientific inquiry and engineering
design
KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE MUST BE
INTERTWINED IN LEARNING
EXPERIENCES
NGSS Background
Achieve NGSS Website
•
Development Process and Timeline
•
Standards in Multiple Formats for Download and Online Searching
•
Support Documents
•
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
ODE NGSS Website
•
Feedback Survey www.surveymonkey.com/s/ngss_or
•
Announcements of Upcoming Work on Adoption, Transition, and
Implementation
•
Resources
•
www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3508
*Oregon Science Teachers Association NGSS Position Statement
Science Panel Recommendations

Adopt the Next Generation Science Standards.
Recommendation to adopt integrated middle school
grade level progression similar to the sequence
adopted by California.


Statewide implementation of NGSS in Oregon
classrooms by 2016-17.
Statewide operational implementation of NGSS
assessment in Oregon by 2018-19.
NGSS Conceptual Shifts
1.
Interconnected Nature of Science as it is Practiced and
Experienced in the Real World
2.
Student Performance Expectations – NOT Curriculum.
3.
Science Concepts Build Coherently from K–12
4.
Focus on Deeper Understanding of Content as well as
Application of Content
5.
Science and Engineering are Integrated in the NGSS
6.
Prepare students for College, Career, and Citizenship
7.
The NGSS and CCSS are Aligned
Scientific and Engineering Practices
1.
Asking questions and defining problems
2.
Developing and using models
3.
Planning and carrying out investigations
4.
Analyzing and interpreting data
5.
Using mathematics and computational thinking
6.
Developing explanations and designing solutions
7.
Engaging in argument
8.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
53
NGSS Scientific & Engineering Practices
Nature of science and engineering
1. Asking questions (for science) and
defining problems (for engineering)
Science focuses on questions about the natural
world.
Engineering focuses on practical problems.
2. Developing and using models
Science is about models.
Engineering exploit models.
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
Science is about research.
Engineering as iterative improvement.
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
Science is analytical.
Engineering is about data.
5. Using mathematics and computational
thinking
Mathematics is the language of science and
engineering.
Computational thinking allows scientists &
engineers to exploit computers.
6. Constructing explanations (for science)
and designing solutions (for engineering)
Science is about explanations.
Engineering is about solutions.
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
Science is arguments and argumentation.
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information
Science as assessing available information and
relating it to claims.
Engineering as using information to evaluation
methods and solutions.
Connections
Four Things Every Teacher Can Do!
• Give students a strong base of knowledge
through content rich texts and discussion of
learning experiences
• Have students read, write, speak, and think
based on evidence
• Have students construct viable arguments and
critique the thinking of others
• Engage students in argument from evidence
Resources
• http://opas.ous.edu/EDOSC/Materials.php
• http://ngss.nsta.org/latest-news/
Questions?
• Tom Thompson – tom.thompson@state.or.us
• Karin Moscon – karin.moscon@state.or.us
• Jennell Ives – jennell.ives@state.or.us