Using the CCSS, PARCC and Educator
Evaluation to Improve Student Achievement
PARCC
Common
Core
Educator
Evaluation
Student
Student
Achievement www.achievethecore.org

Common Standards, Common Assessments
Uncommon Results
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So the question is…
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The CCSS Difference: Grade 7 ELA
Before: NJCCCS (2004)
1. Produce written work and oral work that demonstrate comprehension of informational materials.
After: CCSS (2010)
2. Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. www.achievethecore.org

The CCSS Difference: Grade 8 Math
1. Understand and apply the Pythagorean Theorem.
After: CCSS (2010)
1. Explain a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse.
2. Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to determine unknown side lengths in right triangles in real-world and mathematical problems in two and three dimensions.
3. Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between two points in a coordinate system. www.achievethecore.org

The CCSS Difference
Grade 3-5 ELA: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Grade 3
Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two
texts on the same topic
Grade 4
Integrate
information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgably
Grade 5
Integrate information from
several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgably. www.achievethecore.org

College Readiness: Grade 11 ELA
Write arguments to support claim(s) in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence
Introduce precise knowledgeable claims(s), establish the
significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaim(s), reasons and evidence.
Develop claim(s) and counterclaim(s) fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience ’ s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases. www.achievethecore.org

Limitations of Textbooks and Programs
CCSS requires the re-evaluation of textbooks, materials and programs.
Rubrics for evaluating resources can be found at the
NJDOE website under CCSS.
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Model Curriculum 1.0 & 2.0
Version 1.0
WHAT
Students need to Learn
Standard
Student
Learning
Objectives
CCSS Standard SLO #1
1
SLO #2
CCSS Standard
2
SLO #3
SLO #4
Version 2.0
HOW
We can best Instruct
Instruction
Formative
Assessments
• Model Lessons
• Model Tasks
• Engaging
Instructional
Strategies
• Effective checks for understanding
• Teacher designed formative assessments
Version 1.0
WHEN do we know students have Learned
Summative/Formative
Unit Assessment
SLOs 1-5
SLO #5
General Bank of Assessment Items 2.0
Student level learning reports - Professional development - Resource reviews

Why Unit-based Formative Assessments?
 Clarify the level of rigor for teaching the standards or SLOs
 Create common expectations in common courses
 Provide data to inform classroom instruction
 Provide data that can be combined with observation data to inform PD www.achievethecore.org

Grade 3 sample formative assessment items www.achievethecore.org

’
’
The article includes these details about Eliza ’ s life:
She wrote newspaper articles to tell others about what she saw in Alaska to inform those who had not been there. (paragraph 1)
She wrote the first guidebook about Alaska. (paragraph 1)
She was the first woman to work at the National Geographic Society, where she wrote many articles and books. (paragraph 11)
What do these details help show ?
a)They show that she shared the benefits of her experiences with others.* b)They show she had many important jobs during her lifetime, but becoming a photographer was one of her proudest moments.
c)They show that her earlier travels were more exciting than the work she did later in her life.
d)They show that she had a careful plan for everything she did in her life.
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’
’
Ideas from paragraphs 1 and 11 were used to help you learn about Eliza. Click on two other paragraphs that include additional support for the answer in Part A. There are more than two paragraphs that include additional support, but you need to only choose two. www.achievethecore.org

Grade 3, Item #3, Research Simulation Essay: Eliza ’ s Cherry
Trees: Japan ’ s Gift to America and “ The Peanut Man ”
You have read two texts about famous people in
American history who solved a problem by working to make a change.
Write an article for your school newspaper describing how Eliza and Carver faced challenges to change something in America.
• In your article, be sure to describe in detail why some solutions they tried worked and others did not work.
• Tell how the challenges each one faced were the same and how they were different.
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Grade 7 Analytical Prose Constructed-Response Item
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Grade 7 Technology-Enhanced Constructed-Response
Item
Below are three claims that one could make based on the article “ Earhart ’ s Final
Resting Place Believed Found.
”
Part A
• Highlight the claim that is supported by the most relevant and sufficient facts within
“ Earhart ’ s Final Resting Place Believed Found.
”
Part B
• Click on two facts within the article that best provide evidence to support the claim selected in Part A. www.achievethecore.org
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Grade 7, Prose Constructed-Response Item
You have read three texts describing Amelia Earhart.
All three include the claim that Earhart was a brave, courageous person. The three texts are:
“ Biography of Amelia Earhart ”
“ Earhart's Final Resting Place Believed Found ”
“ Amelia Earhart ’ s Life and Disappearance ”
Consider the argument each author uses to demonstrate
Earhart ’ s bravery.
Write an essay that analyzes the strength of the arguments about Earhart ’ s bravery in at least two of the texts.
Remember to use textual evidence to support your ideas.
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Grade 7 Summative Assessment: Prose Constructed Response from
Research Simulation Task (Analytical Essay): “ Amelia Earhart ’ s Life and
Disappearance ”
Read the
“Biography of
Amelia Earhart ”
Read “Earhart’s
Final Resting Place
Believed Found ” www.achievethecore.org

Grade 10 Summative Assessment: Evidence-Based Selected
Response (EBSR) from Literary Analysis Task
Read the excerpt from
Ovid’s
“Daedalus and Icarus ” www.achievethecore.org

Grade 10 Summative Assessment: Prose Constructed Response—
Sample #1 from Literary Analysis Task
Read the excerpt from
Ovid’s
“Daedalus and Icarus ”
Read Anne
Sexton’s “To A
Friend Whose
Work Has Come To
Triumph ” www.achievethecore.org

Grade 10 Summative Assessment:
Read the excerpt from
Ovid’s
“Daedalus and Icarus ”
Read Anne
Sexton’s “To A
Friend Whose
Work Has Come To
Triumph ” www.achievethecore.org

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How do your assessments compare to these?
PARCC is designed to reward quality instruction aligned to the Standards, so the assessment is worthy of preparation rather than a distraction from good work.
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Claims
Evidence
Design begins with the inferences
(claims) we want to make about students
In order to support
claims, we must gather evidence
Tasks
Tasks are designed to elicit specific
evidence from students in support of claims
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Students are on-track or ready for college and careers
Students read and comprehend a range of sufficiently complex texts independently
Reading
Literature
Reading
Informational
Text
Vocabulary
Interpretation and Use
Students write effectively when using and/or analyzing sources.
Written
Expression
Conventions and
Knowledge of
Language
Students build and present knowledge through research and the integration, comparison, and synthesis of ideas.

“On Their Own”
“Students can, without significant scaffolding, comprehend and evaluate complex texts across a range of types of disciplines, and they can construct effective arguments and convey intricate or multifaceted information. Likewise, students are able independently to discern a speaker’s key points, request clarification, and ask relevant questions.”
- Common Core ELA Standards www.achievethecore.org

1. I did it independently.
2. I needed only 1 – 2 quick reminders.
3. I needed some direction or hints.
4. I needed a lot of assistance or reminders.
5. Even with a lot of help, I couldn’t complete the task.
This adaptation is based on the work of Grant Wiggins.
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CCSS: 3 Shifts in ELA/Literacy
1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction
2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in
evidence from text, both literary and informational
3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language www.achievethecore.org
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Students are on-track or ready for college and careers
Solve problems involving the major
content for their grade level with connections to practices
Solve problems involving the additional and supporting content for their grade level with connections to practices
Express mathematical
reasoning by constructing mathematical arguments and critiques
Use the modeling
practice to solve real world problems
Demonstrate fluency in areas set forth in the
Standards for Content in grades 3-6

The CCSS: 3 Shifts in Mathematics
1. Focus strongly where the standards focus.
2. Coherence: Think across grades, and link to major topics.
3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application.
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1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make sense of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
www.achievethecore.org

PARCC’s Core Commitments to ELA/Literacy
Assessment Quality
Texts Worth Reading: Authentic texts worthy of study instead of artificially produced or commissioned passages.
Questions Worth Answering: Sequences of questions that draw students into deeper encounters with texts rather than sets of random questions of varying quality.
Better Standards Demand Better Questions: Custom items written to the Standards instead of reusing existing items.
Fidelity to the Standards: PARCC evidences are rooted in the language of the Standards so that expectations remain the same in both instructional and assessment settings.
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PARCC ’ s Core Commitments to Mathematics
Assessment Quality
 Focus: Items will focus on major, and additional and supporting content.
 Problems worth doing: Problems will include conceptual questions, applications, multi-step problems and substantial procedures.
 Better Standards Demand Better Questions: Custom items written to the Standards instead of reusing existing items.
 Fidelity to the Standards : PARCC evidences are rooted in the language of the Standards so that expectations remain the same in both instructional and assessment settings.
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Are your assessments transitioning?
“Transitional Assessments”
Spring 2012
NJ ASK
Aligned to
NJCCCS
Spring 2013
NJ ASK
Aligned to the
CCSS
(except gr 6-8
Math)
Spring 2014
NJ ASK
Aligned to the
CCSS
SY 2014-15
Full administration of PARCC assessments
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English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics, Grades 3-11
2 Optional Assessments/Flexible Administration
Diagnostic Assessment
• Early indicator of student knowledge and skills to inform instruction, supports, and PD
• Non-summative
Mid-Year Assessment
• Performance-based
• Emphasis on hardto-measure standards
• Potentially summative
Performance-Based
Assessment (PBA)
• Extended tasks
• Applications of concepts and skills
• Required
End-of-Year
Assessment
• Innovative, computerbased items
• Required www.achievethecore.org
Speaking And Listening
Assessment
• Locally scored
• Non-summative, required 45

 Lesson plans
 Walkthroughs and evaluations: feedback on standards-aligned instruction
 Data reports: Unit assessment data, walkthrough data www.achievethecore.org

 Create agendas that focus on the “ right work.
”
 Engage in on-going collaboration.
 Put the truth on the table.
 Administrators attend on a regular basis and provide feedback and support. www.achievethecore.org

Activities to Promote
Understanding of the CCSS
 Review the 10 ELA anchor standards for a grade band
 Examine the K-12 development of a single anchor standard
 Review the Appendices
 Appendix A: Text Complexity
 Appendix B: Text Exemplars and Student Perf. Tasks
 Appendix C: Samples of Student Writing
 Analyze the Model Curriculum and Unit Assessments
 Study the CCSS math practices www.achievethecore.org

NJDOE Resources http://www.state.nj.us/education/
• Model Curricula for K-12 Mathematics and ELA
• Unit Assessments
• Scaffolds for ELL and Special Education
• Model lessons, units, videos, materials and resources
• Assessment bank
• Educator Resource Website ( njcore.org
)
PARCC www.PARCConline.org
CCSS www.achievethecore.org
; http://www.corestandards.org/ www.achievethecore.org
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What new Resources will be provided?
 September launch of Educator Resource Exchange website!
 Development of on-line CC professional development modules for teachers and administrators
 Training videos on high quality early childhood practices
 A series of videos that address the Shifting Gears topics
 Monthly dissemination of information (resources, invitations to participate in special projects, free PD opportunities) to
Common Core Implementation Teams
 Comprehensive communication campaign to build awareness
 Additional SGO exemplars that support quality instruction
 Identification and sharing of CC “ best practices.
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Contribute – Rate – Collect – Download – Share

www.achievethecore.org
What can I do?
Educators can:
• Search for resources and/or browse standards/model curriculum to locate instructional materials
• Upload a resource to share with fellow educators and general public
• Rate a resource and view rating
(only educators can rate resources)
• Create a user profile with a “ my collections ” feature to store and organize favorite resources
• Access on a mobile device on IOS
(Apple) and Android devices.
• Share resources in social media

What new Professional Development will be offered?
 Introduction of Model Lesson Awards
 Training for teachers on the Tri-State Quality Review Rubric and protocols for examining student work
 Regional trainings for teachers on key CC topics in math and ELA
 Regional trainings for administrators on curricular and instructional “ look fors ” in the CC classroom
 Statewide CC and PARCC trainings for school board members, administrators, teachers, higher ed faculty, parents and the business community
 Enhanced training and support for Priority and Focus schools
 SGO training for teachers and administrators www.achievethecore.org
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National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)- a grade-bygrade Parent Guide to students ’ success on the CCSS http://pta.org/parents/content.cfm?ItemNumber=2583
Council of the Great City Schools- Parent Roadmaps to the
Common Core Standards (ELA and Math). Provides guidance to parents about what their children will be learning and how they can support that learning in grades
K-8. (Available in English and Spanish) http://cgcs.schoolwires.net/domain/36 www.achievethecore.org

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This is our moment.
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