Transitioning to the
Common Core
Bobby Moore, EdD
Judy VanVoorhis, PhD
BFK’s Discovery on “High Growth” Schools







Narrow Focus
Proficient Levels of Implementation
Reallocation of Resources
Few Initiatives
Action Oriented
Leaders Model “Best Practices”
Focus on “Vital Behaviors” and “Results”
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Today’s Learning Targets
1.
2.
3.
To introduce OLAC Modules that can assist
with building capacity necessary for a
successful transition to the Common Core.
To provide an update and better
understanding on the Common Core and
Assessments.
Analyze four focuses for transition to the
Common Core.
Copyright, 2012. Battelle for Kids. All Rights Reserved.
OLAC Modules as Resources
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The Change Process
Collaborative Teams and Organizational
Structures
Developing Shared Accountability
Development of A Focused Plan
Effective Curriculum Practices
The Collaborative Process
Copyright, 2012. Battelle for Kids. All Rights Reserved.
Change Leadership
Copyright, 2012. Battelle for Kids. All Rights Reserved.
Self-Reflection Part 1

Think of a large-scale change initiative that
you have led or been involved in that was
not successful.
 Why
was it not successful?
 Think
about and list the root causes:
 What
factors led to an unsuccessful outcome?
 What was done well?
 What was not done well?
 What could have been done better?
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Self-Reflection Part 2

Think of a large-scale change initiative that
you have led or been involved in that was
successful.
 Why
was it successful?
 Think
about and list the root causes:
 What
factors led to a successful outcome?
 What was done well?
 What was not done well?
 What could have been done better?
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Kotter’s Eight-Stage Process for Change
1.
Create The Case for Change.
2.
Create a Guiding Coalition and Engage
Stakeholders.
3.
Develop a Vision and Strategy.
4.
Communicate The Change Vision.
5.
Identify and Overcome Barriers to Success.
6.
Generate Short-Term Wins—Celebrate Hard Work.
7.
Build on Success. Fail Forward.
8.
Anchor Change In The Culture—Encourage a
Culture of Continuous Improvement.
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
School Leadership
Developing and maintaining a cohesive team with a
relentless focus on student learning is a daunting
task.
To cultivate a culture that is always challenging the
status quo and where excellence is the expectation,
school leaders will need to be courageous, focus on
the right goals, prioritize the right practices, monitor
the right measures and demonstrate high levels of
emotional intelligence.
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
More Than 50% of the Districts
Were Excellent or Higher
Advanced Placement Examinations
67 districts rated excellent or excellent
with distinction had zero students take
AP exams.
ACT Scores
109 districts rated excellent or excellent
with distinction had average ACT scores
below the state average.
Diplomas with Honors
160 districts rated excellent or excellent
with distinction had fewer than 20% of
their graduating class receive diplomas
with honors.
College Remediation Rates
136 districts rated excellent had college
remediation rates above the state average.
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Proficient is Not College Ready
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Proficient is Not College Ready
Gr. Rd Prof./Raw %
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
92.71
96.47
91.79
96.86
96.78
98.20
78.79
77.87
75.01
68.25
74.55
78.81
Math Prof./Raw %
94.77
94.57
85.17
94.53
94.94
96.13
82.29
78.50
68.82
69.92
67.12
70.18
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Where Are People?

Leading change requires disturbing people, but
at a rate they can accommodate.
Comfort
Zone
Risk
Zone
Fear
Zone
Fight
Flight
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Lowering the Temperature
Raise the Temperature
1.
Draw attention to the tough questions.
2.
Give people more responsibility than they are
comfortable with.
3.
Bring conflicts to the surface.
Lower the Temperature
1. Address technical aspects of problems.
2. Establish structures and roles.
3. Reclaim the responsibility for tough issues.
Heifetz & Linsky (2002)
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Constructive Discontent
Creating a culture that is rarely satisfied with
results and that is always looking for ways to
improve without being de-motivating.
 What is the fundamental purpose of the school?
 Why are we brought together?
 The main thing is to keep the main thing the
main thing.
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
The Common Core
Copyright, 2012. Battelle for Kids. All Rights Reserved.
Common Core Adoptions
*Maine and Washington have adopted the CCSS provisionally
** Minnesota adopted the CCSS in ELA only
Source: PARCC consortia
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Implementation Timeline
Transition to the Common Core:
• Teacher development
State Board Adopts
• Local curriculum revision
Standards
• Test development
June 2010
2011-2014
State Board Adopts
Transition
Model Curriculum
Complete
March 2011
June 2014
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Standards Reflect
New Features
New Focus
• Fewer, clearer, and
higher
• College and career
readiness
• Internationally
benchmarked
• Content and skills
• Coherence, focus, rigor
• Aligned to model
curriculum
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Ohio’s Language is Changing
National Common
Core Standards
Ohio Revised
Standards
ELA
Math
Science
Social
Studies
Current
OACS
Strand
Domain
Strand
Strand
Standard
Topic*
Cluster
Topic
Topic
Benchmark
Standard
Standard
Content
Statement
Content
Statement
Indicator
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Format of K-12 ELA Standards
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Format of K-8 Math Standards
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Format of HS Math Standards
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What Will Change?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Content at various grade levels
Delivery of instruction and assessment
Teacher focus on formative instructional
practices
Creation and reliance on professional learning
communities—peer-to-peer accountability
Stronger connection between delivery of
instruction, assessment, use of data, and
teacher effectiveness
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Where Are We Going?



Best practices, strong content, and uniform
assessments employed consistently across the
state and nation
Increased collaboration among teachers, driven
and supported by effective leaders
Increased student achievement
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Before implementation can proceed

Who needs deep understanding of the Common
Core State Standards?
Teachers and Administrators need deep
understanding of the Common Core State
Standards?

Whose commitment is required?
Teachers and Administrators need to commit to
implementation of the Common Core State
Standards.
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
College and Career Readiness Standards



These standards represent a huge shift in thinking
from minimal levels of proficiency to high levels of
achievement for ALL students.
To be career ready requires more from students
and their teachers than merely getting into college
or getting a job.
Fast paced global society.
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Shifts in English Language Arts
Shift in emphasis from fiction to nonfiction in
reading and writing.
 Focus on close analysis of texts with evidence
to back up claims and conclusions.
 Emphasis in teaching literacy skills in and
through history/social studies, science, and
technical content areas.
Based on Reading framework for the 2009 National Assessment of
Educational Progress. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Copyright, 2012. Battelle for Kids. All Rights Reserved.
Content Shifts
See handouts:
 12 Content Shifts
 Resources
Copyright, 2012. Battelle for Kids. All Rights Reserved.
ELA CCSS Focus

Focus on Coherence

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Focus text complexity in reading

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Students required to read texts of increasing complexity
Focus on college and career readiness in writing

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Progressions develop literacy skills across grade levels
(close reading and literary nonfiction)
Students required to write using evidence from
informational reading (writing to sources; arguments [not
persuasion] and increased research)
Focus on literacy across content areas

Literacy skills in reading and writing included in
history/social studies, science, and technical areas
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Mathematics Emphasis (Shifts)

Greater emphasis on reasoning and problem
solving

Teach content through the standards for
mathematical practice

Learning Progressions

Critical areas


1st pg. of each grade and course
Mathematical practices
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Learning Progressions
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High School Pathways
High School’s Best Resource
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
What can be done now?

Get to know the CCSS:

Begin developing the Mathematical Practices

Provide teachers vertical understanding of
content across several grades using the “Critical
Areas”
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
What Should We Do Now?



Embed greater emphasis on reasoning and
problem-solving tasks
Provide time for teachers to focus on the 3-4
critical areas in each grade, and discuss the
grade before and the grade after
Teach content through the standards for the
8 mathematical practices
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Critical Areas of Mathematics

PD Option
 Posters
needed – 1 of each
 K,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
 High School Posters
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
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


Number and quantity
Algebra
Functions
Modeling
Geometry
Statistics/Probability
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
PD Teacher Activity

Need
Posters of Critical Areas of Focus, K-8 and 9-12
 Template for teachers to record findings


Actions
Place posters on the walls in order K-8 and a wall for
HS.
 Have teacher teams select 3 grades (vertically; K-2; 35; 6-8 and HS) to discuss the 3-4 critical areas at each
grade with their team.
 Teachers record their findings on the template.

Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Critical Areas of Focus (K-8)
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Teacher PD

As a team, discuss 3-4 critical areas in each grade

Vertically
3
6
4
7
5
8
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Common Core State Standards for
Mathematical Practices
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Make sense of problems and persevere in
solving them.
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
Construct viable arguments and critique the
reasoning 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.
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
ALIGNMENT across grades
The Bottom Line:
Alignment & Collaboration
A tool, like the BFK K-12 Common Core
Vertical Progression Guide for ELA or
Mathematics, that displays Common
Core Standards can support collaborative
teams as they align and craft curriculum,
instruction and assessments.
COLLABORATION across grades,
courses and content areas
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Four Focuses for Transition
1.
2.
3.
4.
Create an urgency and manage the change
process.
Prioritize this initiative.
Develop and communicate a specific and
coherent action plan.
Provide resources (guides, tools, instructional
materials and time).
Copyright, 2012. Battelle for Kids. All Rights Reserved.
Sample of an Actual District’s
Inventory of Initiatives

Literacy First

DIBELS Read 180

Buckle Down Waterford Early Literacy

Success Maker Readers’ Workshop

Scholastic Reading Inventory

Writers’ Workshop

Reading Counts

Data Teams

Study Island

Ramp Up to Language Arts

Saxon Math

Ramp Up to Math

Math Leap Frog

Teacher Leader Effectiveness

Harcourt Science Kits

Power School

Accelerated Reader

Math Investigations

Star Early Literacy

Everyday Math

Fast Math

Response to Intervention

Professional Learning Communities

Positive Behavioral Support

Saxon Phonics
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Too Many Initiatives?
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Initiative Fatigue
In a time of financial constraints, educational
leaders must mandate a clear direction for
effective allocation of precious resources of time,
energy, and money. There are too many initiatives
not explicitly linked to improved student
achievement and as a result educational systems
are suffering from “Initiative Fatigue.”
Doug Reeves
The Leadership and Learning Center
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Transition Plan
2010-2011
2011-2012
• Introduce new
standards
• Participate in
creating model
curricula
• Build
awareness of
new standards
• Introduce
model curricula
• Conduct
crosswalk
activities
• Initiate
curriculum
mapping
activities
• Initiate
formative
instruction PD
• Begin using
new standards
in grades K-2
and 11-12.
2012-2013
• Introduce
performance
tasks and
scoring rubrics
• Continue
formative
instruction PD
• Practice online
formative
assessments
• Introduce
Instructional
Improvement
System (IIS)
2013-2014
• Integrate
standards and
curricula into
district curricula
and teachers’
course planning
• Integrate
performance
tasks in course
activities
• Prepare for
online testing
• Complete
formative
instruction PD
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Curriculum Development: A Multi-Stage
Process with Timeline for Implementation
Familiarity
Intense PD
Implementation
Getting to know the standards
Articulating the District Curriculum
Assessment and Instruction
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
Stage 1
Get organized
for the effort
•Understand
multi-step
process
•Charter teams
•Set goals
based on vision
and mission
•Establish high
performing
work team
protocols
•Set high
expectations
•Etc.
Stage 2
Unwrapping
the Standards
•Utilize Crosswalk tool and
Model
Curricula
•Identify
changes in
content
•Identify
changes in
levels of rigor
•Site gradelevel issues/
concerns
•Etc.
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Re-Wrap the
Standards
•Create the
“skeleton” of
units around
big ideas/
concepts
•Think intraand interdisciplinary
•Focus on rigor
including 21st
Century Skills,
Inquiry-based
learning,
globalization
•Sequence
units based on
school calendar
& “rhythm” of
school year
Elaborate
Units
•Establish unit
titles
•Develop
Essential
Questions &
Understandings
•Identify
targets for
learning
•Develop “I
Can”
statements for
each target
using K, S, R. P
•Apply
authentic
literacy
practices
across all units
Assessment
Development
•Develop
assessments
for each “I
Can”
•Incorporate
common
formative and
summative
assessments
for each unit
•Design
performancebased
assessment
items
•Use
assessment
results to
redesign
units, identify
intervention,
Etc.
Stage 6
Lesson
Development
•Design lessons
for each unit to
support the
assessment of
each learning
target
•Use Model
Curricula to
support
instructional
design
•Use researchbased practices
•Establish
protocols and
rubrics for
lesson design
Stage 7
Stage 8
Instructional
Delivery
•All lessons and
learning
activities
reflect the
Common Core
and revised
state standards
•Learning is
focused on the
depth of what
students
should know &
be able to do
•Lessons are
delivered in
segments with
checks for
learning after
each segment
•Pacing guides
identify when
common
assessments
occur
PLCs
•Teacher teams
(TBTs, BLTs,
departments,
etc.) to meet to
work on units,
lessons, and
common
assessments
•Protocols
established for
content teams
to review
assessment
results, student
work,
assessment
items and
lessons, etc. to
provide
feedback and
support
curricular
changes
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
School-Level Recommendations





Grades K-2 (and as many grades as possible)
 Begin CCSS implementation for LA/Reading and Math in Fall 2011
Common Core Implementation Teams
 Much like School Improvement or OIP Committees
School Implementation Teams
 Composed of principal and lead teachers to oversee
implementation and professional development within school
School lead teachers
 Language Arts/Reading and Math teachers from each grade
 Promote maximum student success and ensure all students are
college and career ready
Collaboration
 Increased collaboration among teachers, driven and supported
by effective leaders. Time built into scheduled teacher in-service
for grade level collaboration and comparison of old and new
standards by teachers
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Building Capacity


The sooner teachers can begin comparing current
standards to the CCSS, the more confident and
competent teachers will become in designing and
delivering instruction on these standards.
Training offered by Battelle for Kids, ODE, ESC and
others will assist in this, by enabling teachers to
design better instruction at the deeper level required
in CCSS.
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
What do you need for the transition?



ODE’s crosswalks and comparative analyses
can help, but these do not execute the transition
Common Core State Standards
Knowledge of the major shifts for ELA and
Mathematics
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Other Curricular Supports





Crosswalks
Comparative Analysis Documents
Model Curriculums
Formative Instruction Modules
Instructional Improvement System
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
Crosswalks
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Grade Level Comparative Analysis Tool

An analysis of each grade to determine
 What
topics are still there
 What topics are moved
 What topics are new
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Now what?



What have you done?
What do you plan to do?
What challenges do you anticipate?
Copyright, 2011. Battelle for Kids.
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