CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Common Core State Standards
The role of educational foundations in
promoting college and career standards for
all students
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CT State Department of Education
Core Beliefs
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CT State Department of Education: Core Beliefs
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Common Core State Standards
& Smarter Balanced
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What are the Common Core State Standards?
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Common Core: Content Areas and Instructional Shifts
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Common Core: English language arts and Literacy
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Common Core Instructional Shifts: ELA
• Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and
informational texts
Why are the instructional shifts in English language arts (ELA) important?
1. Much of our knowledge base comes from informational text.
2. Informational text makes up a vast majority of required reading in
college/workplace (80%).
3. Informational text is harder for students to comprehend than narrative text.
In K-5, fulfilling the Standards requires a 50-50 balance between informational
and literary reading, informational reading primarily includes content rich
non-fiction in history/social studies, science and the arts; the K-5 standards
strongly recommend that students build coherent general knowledge both
within each year and across years.
In 6-12, ELA classes place much greater attention to a specific category of
informational text—literary nonfiction—than has been traditional. In grades
6-12, the Standards for literacy in history/social studies, science and
technical subjects ensure that students can independently build knowledge
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in these disciplines through reading and writing.
Common Core Instructional Shifts: ELA
• Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from
text, both literary and informational
The Standards place a premium on students writing to sources (i.e., using
evidence from texts to present careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear
information). Rather than asking students questions they can answer solely
from their prior knowledge or experience, the Standards expect students to
answer questions that depend on their having read the text or texts with care.
The Standards also require the cultivation of narrative writing throughout the
grades, and in later grades a command of sequence and detail will be essential
for effective argumentative and informational writing.
Likewise the reading standards focus on students’ ability to read carefully and
grasp information, arguments, ideals and details based on text evidence.
Students should be able to answer a range of text-dependent questions,
questions in which the answers require inferences based on careful attention to
the text.
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Common Core Instructional Shifts: ELA
• Regular practice with complex text and its academic language
The Standards build a staircase of text complexity so that all students are ready
for the demands of college- and career-level reading no later than the end of
high school. Students will read complex texts on their own and gather evidence,
knowledge, and insight from those texts. read and reread passages, and
respond to a series of text dependent questions, vocabulary and/or syntax
tasks.
Closely related to text complexity—
and inextricably connected to
reading comprehension—is a
focus on academic vocabulary:
words that appear in a variety of
content areas.
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Common Core Instructional Shifts: Math
• Focus Strongly where the Standards focus
Significantly narrow the scope of content and deepen how time and energy is
spent in the math classroom—move away from "mile wide, inch deep"
curricula.
Focus deeply only on what is emphasized in the standards, so that students
gain strong foundations—teach less, learn more.
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K – Counting, Sequencing, Value, Measurement
1st & 2nd – Adding, Subtracting-Whole numbers & Quantity
3rd – Multiplication, Division, Fractions
4th, 5th – Fractions…moving to ratios at the very end
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Mathematics: Traditional U.S. Approach to Math
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Mathematics: Common Core Approach to Math
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Common Core Instructional Shifts: Math
• Coherence: Think across grades, and link to major topics within
grades
Carefully connect the learning within and across grades so that students can
build new understanding onto foundations built in previous years.
Begin to count on solid conceptual understanding of core content and build on it.
Each standard is not a new event, but an extension of previous learning.
Fraction example:
“The coherence and sequential
nature of mathematics dictate the
foundational skills that are necessary
for the learning of algebra. The most
important foundational skill not presently
developed appears to be proficiency with fractions
(including decimals, percents, and negative
fractions). The teaching of fractions must be
acknowledged as critically important and
improved before an increase in student
achievement in algebra can be expected.”
Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008, p. 18)
Grade 3 Example: The standards make
explicit connections at a single grade
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Common Core Instructional Shifts: Math
• Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding,
procedural skill and fluency, and application
The CCSSM require a balance of:
 Solid conceptual understanding—Teachers support students’ ability to
access concepts from a number of perspectives so that students are able
to see math as more than a set of mnemonics or discrete procedures.
 Procedural skill and fluency—Teachers structure class time and/or
homework time for students to practice core functions such as singledigit multiplication so that students have access to more complex
concepts and procedures.
 Application of skills in problem solving situations—Teachers provide
opportunities for students to apply math in context. Teachers in context
areas outside of math, particularly in science, ensure that students are
using math to make meaning of and access content.
This requires equal intensity in time, activities, and resources in pursuit of all
three.
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Required Mathematics Fluencies in K-6
Grade
Standard
K
K.OA.5
Add/subtract within 5
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1.OA.6
Add/subtract within 10
2.OA.2
Add/subtract within 20 (know single-digit sums from memory)
2.NBT.5
Add/subtract within 100
3.OA.7
Multiply/divide within 100 (know single-digit products from memory)
3.NBT.2
Add/subtract within 1000
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4.NBT.4
Add/subtract within 1,000,000
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5.NBT.5
Multi-digit multiplication
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6.NS.2,3
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Required Fluency
Multi-digit division
Multi-digit decimal operations
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What is Smarter Balanced?
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What is Smarter Balanced?
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Smarter Balanced: ELA Content Specifications
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Smarter Balanced: Math Content Specifications
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College- and Career-Ready
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The role of community organizations in this shift
Alignment and Sustainability
 Review alignment
 If college and career readiness is a focus of investments:
 Consider adjusting application process or criteria
 Consider investing in projects that support the shifts
 Make supporting literature available
 Lend your credibility
 Network for maximum impact
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More information about new standards
Student Achievement Partners
An excellent source for all things Common Core that may help district and school leaders in
the implementation of Common Core.
• Essential actions and CCSS-aligned tools for school and district leaders, which exist within a
system of implementation and shouldn’t be considered as a sequential checklist
• New Professional Development modules that are ready-to-use and include PowerPoints,
videos, facilitator’s instructions, and hands-on activities—ideal for PD workshops,
professional learning communities, and self-study.
• Aligning Materials and Curriculum—Tools for evaluating and developing Common Corealigned materials, as well as free Common Core-aligned resources
• CCSS Evidence Guides: Common Core-aligned practice made clear—These tools provide
specific guidance for what the CCSS for ELA / literacy and math looks like in planning and
practice; they are designed as developmental tools for teachers and those who support
teachers. Use the Evidence Guides for:
• Teacher self-reflection
• Peer-to-peer observation and feedback
• Instructional coaching
• Common Core Resources for Parents—Materials developed for parents of K-12 students
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More information on new assessments
Smarter Balanced
• Similar to the CSDE Common Core aligned Practice Assessment, the Smarter Balanced
Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) has last week released sets of example test
questions for grades 3–8 and 11 in both English language arts/literacy and mathematics.
The Smarter Balanced Practice Tests provide a preview of the types of questions that will
be featured in the summative assessment beginning in 2014-15, including selectedresponse items, constructed-response items, technology-enhanced items, and
performance tasks—extended activities that challenge students to apply their knowledge
and skills to respond to real-world problems. The Practice Tests do not include all the
features of the operational assessments; for example, although Smarter Balanced
assessments will be computer adaptive, the Practice Tests follow a fixed-form model. Also,
unlike the CSDE Common Core aligned Practice Assessment, students and teachers will not
receive reports or scores from the Smarter Balanced Practice Tests. We encourage districts
to take advantage of this tool as it will help students and parents become more familiar
with assessment items found on the 2015 Smarter Balanced assessment.
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