COMMON CORE IMPLEMNTATION IN NEW YORK CITY:
SUPPORTING COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS
NYU Steinhardt Education Policy Breakfast
Friday, November 30, 2012
THE COMMON CORE ARE PART OF OUR COLLEGE
& CAREER READINESS BENCHMARKS
DOMAIN
EXAMPLES
Common Core Learning
Standards
Academic mastery that students demonstrate at every grade level, defined by the Common
Core Learning Standards.
Academic & Personal
Behaviors
Learning habits and skills that support academic readiness and include non-cognitive, socioemotional qualities that support resiliency, and college/career persistence.
Academic Programming
Choices about the level of rigor and subjects that students will pursue yield pathways that
either prepare or prevent students from taking the academic courses necessary for success
after high school. Students need to make informed choices about the courses and scores
they need to achieve to graduate and have the widest possible range of opportunities for
equitable access and entry points to highly challenging/college prep coursework.
College and Career Access
Learning about postsecondary pathways and careers to develop meaningful personal
aspirations with a clear sense of the roadmap to their goals, and the specific supports at key
transition points to ultimately gain entry to a well-matched college/career training program.
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TRANSITIONING TO THE COMMON CORE IS A
MULTI-YEAR PROCESS IN NEW YORK CITY
2009-10
 New York State adopts Common Core standards.
2010-11
 New York City launches Common Core pilots in 100 schools.
2011-12
 All New York City schools implement citywide instructional expectations.
2012-13
 New York State integrates Common Core into grades 3-8 NYS tests.
 New York State releases curriculum materials aligned to the Common Core.
 All New York City schools implement broader, deeper instructional expectations.
2013-14
 All New York City schools implement citywide instructional expectations as final
part of transition to the Common Core.
 New York State begins to integrate Common Core into some Regents exams.
2014-15
 Students across New York State take State PARCC* assessments.
*New York is part of a consortium of states, the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
(PARCC), working together to develop new state assessments.
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IN 2011-12, NYC CREATED A SET OF CITYWIDE
INSTRUCTIONAL EXPECTATIONS
 By March, complete one literacy and one math task
embedded in a Common Core-aligned curriculum unit
Students
> In literacy: Students will read and analyze nonfiction texts
and write opinions and arguments in response
> In math: Students will engage in a challenging task that
requires them to solve “real-world” problems and/or figure
out the reasoning behind arguments to get to a solution
Teachers
School
Leaders
 Work in teams to review student work and align curriculum,
pedagogy, and assessments with the Common Core
 Share with families at February/March parent-teacher
conferences
 Provide teachers with meaningful feedback tied to an evidencebased rubric of teacher practice
 Consider how teacher practice needs to change to align to the
Common Core; provide appropriate support
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2012-13 CITYWIDE INSTRUCTIONAL EXPECTATIONS
GO BROADER AND DEEPER
Students
 Engage in multiple Common Core-aligned units of study across content
areas
 Experience more challenging, rigorous discussions and assignments
Teachers
 Deepen understanding of the Common Core and the use of the Danielson
Framework for Teaching to shift instructional practice
School
Leaders
Families
 Focus teacher development on the Common Core
 Strengthen the common language and understanding of what quality
teaching looks like aligned to the Danielson Framework
 Conduct frequent formative observations and provide feedback and
professional development to support improved practice in identified
competencies
 Teachers and school leaders share students’ Common Core work and
progress toward college and career readiness with families
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THIS YEAR, COMMON CORE WORK WILL
REQUIRE ALL GRADES TO SHIFT INSTRUCTION
2012-13
These units will focus on shifts in instruction that align to the
Common Core:
In math
Require fluency, application,
and conceptual understanding
In English Language Arts, social studies,
and science
Require students to ground reading,
writing, and discussion in evidence from
text
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TEACHERS OF GRADES PK-8 WILL ADJUST
PRACTICE TO ACCOMMODATE CHANGES
2012-13
In grades PK-8, schools will use guidance from the DOE to review the full
school year and:
In math
In literacy across content areas
Reorganize the sequence of math
content across the year to reflect
the major work of the grade that
will be assessed by the 2013 State
tests
Infuse opportunities to read and
respond to a balance of literary vs.
informational texts in light of the
distribution assessed by the 2013 State
tests
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IN MARCH 2011, NEW YORK CITY LAUNCHED THE
COMMON CORE LIBRARY TO SHARE RESOURCES
ONLINE
Since launch:
 160,000+ unique users
 1,750,000+ page views
 Monthly usage continues to grow
Resources to support implementation
of instructional expectations:





Exemplary instructional materials
Tools for analyzing quality and alignment
PK-8 scope and sequence samples in math
Guidance for implementation of the shifts in literacy
Professional learning materials to increase teacher effectiveness
> Modules and videos, including an introduction to text complexity
> Protocols and other teacher team resources
 Resources for families
 Links to State and other resources
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INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES BEGIN TO SCALE
WORK ACROSS NEW YORK CITY
 A new searchable database allows
educators to find tasks using
keywords, grade, subject and CCLS
 55 instructional resource bundles are
currently available across all grades in
ELA, math, social studies and science
 An instructional resource includes:
> Task
> Rubrics
> Annotated student work
> Universal Design for Learning
guidance
> Annotated tasks (for English
language learners and students
with disabilities)
> Other instructional supports
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THE STANDARDS ASK TEACHERS TO FOCUS IN
MATH; WE PROVIDED DAY-BY-DAY CURRICULA
Teachers should prioritize use of instructional time to support students in building conceptual
understanding, fluency, and the ability to apply important mathematical concepts
Worked with teachers to examine current materials and create guides for their use across
the year: what to use, what to omit, and where to supplement
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COMMON CORE LAB SCHOOLS ARE DEVELOPING
A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF QUALITY
INSTRUCTION ALIGNED TO THE COMMON CORE
 35 schools across all five boroughs, serving K-12
 Use a structured framework for assessment, common rubrics, and high-quality tools to
generate a normed understanding of quality instruction aligned to the Common Core
 Piloting Text and Task Sets, with intensive, direct support provided to a sub-group of 10
schools and their librarians
 Offer opportunities for intensive professional learning throughout the year via
differentiated support from Lab Coaches and Network Lab Leads, Innovative Online and
face-to-face PD, and at 6 cross-school convenings
 August-October
 2 -day August Launch
 1 full-day PD to Look at Teacher and Student Work
 70 school visits by Lab Coaches
 Opportunity for schools to participate in conferences in Virginia and Kentucky
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THE STANDARDS SPECIFY A BALANCE OF
LITERARY AND INFORMATIONAL TEXTS
Sample 8th Grade English Language Arts Task:
 After researching the articles "The American Dream" and "An Itinerant
Life Weighs on Farmworkers' Children" and what we’ve read from Of Mice
and Men on migrant workers, write an essay that argues your position on
which of the following obstacles is the most insurmountable for migrant
workers to achieve the American Dream: poverty, lack of consistent
education, or the difficulty of putting down roots. Support your position with
evidence from your research.
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COMMON CORE FELLOWS ARE HELPING TO LEAD
IMPLEMENTATION ACROSS THE CITY
 Established in 2011-12 with 60 Fellows, representing teachers and coaches
from across the City
 Grew to 300 Fellows in 2012-13
 Goals of the program include:
> Giving feedback to educators across the system on the quality of their Common
Core standards-aligned work by:
 Reviewing instructional tasks and units
 Advising on strengths and next steps in terms of quality of task and alignment
to the Common Core
> Building an understanding of what the Common Core looks like in teacher and
student work across the system
> Establishing a team of Common Core experts across the City
> Collecting exemplars of instructional resources aligned to the Common Core
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EARLY EFFORTS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL:
TEACHERS UNDERSTAND THE STANDARDS AND
RECEIVE FEEDBACK ON THEIR PRACTICE
Percentages may not sum to one hundred due to rounding. District 75 school data is not included here.
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2012-13 NY STATE TESTS WILL ALIGN TO THE
COMMON CORE IN 3-8 ELA AND MATH
 In 3-8 ELA, tests will focus on:
> Comparing two or more texts, including listening passages, writing passages, and
graphics;
> Reading and analyzing informational passages without narrative structure, dialogue, or
characters, and discussing arguments, evidence, and claims;
> Requiring students to engage with a 50/50 split of literary and informational texts; and
> Responding to prompts that are more text-dependent: 35% of prompts will require
students to convey an opinion/argue, 35% to explain, and 30% to convey experience.
 In math:
> In keeping with the Common Core’s emphasis on depth over breadth, tests will
emphasize the major work of the grade, a set of key concepts that helps teacher prioritize
where to spend most of their instructional time. Concepts may be assessed at different
grade levels from those in the past.
> Tests will include more questions that require students to take multiple steps in order to
solve them;
> Questions that in the past have focused on testing mathematical vocabulary will instead
require students to apply skills based on their understanding of that vocabulary;
> Questions using tools like rulers or protractors will include prompts that require students
to both choose the appropriate tool and apply mathematical concepts in using the tool.
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IN OTHER STATES, MORE RIGOROUS STATE
TESTS HAVE LED TO DROPS IN SCORES

Kentucky was the first state to adopt the Common Core standards and to
administer assessments aligned to the Common Core
 When measured by this higher bar, students’ scores dropped:
KENTUCKY STATE TEST SCORES, 2010-11 AND 2011-12
Elementary
Reading
Elementary
Math
Middle School
Reading
Middle School
Math
2010-11
76.0%
73.0%
70.0%
65.0%
2011-12
48.0%
40.4%
46.8%
40.6%
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