September 15, 2010
Common Core FAQ
1. General Questions
Q: What are the Common Core State Standards?
A (adapted from www.corestandards.org): The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a
state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices
and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The standards, informed by effective models
from the U.S. and around the world, were developed in collaboration with teachers, school
administrators, and experts, to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our
children for college and the workforce. The standards provide teachers and parents with a
common understanding of what students across the country are expected to learn—without a
prescription for how students are expected to be taught.
The standards define the knowledge and skills all students should have within their K-12
education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, creditbearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs. The standards:
 Are aligned with college and work expectations;
 Are clear, understandable and consistent;
 Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
 Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
 Are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to
succeed in our global economy and society;
 Are evidence-based.
Q: Where can I access the Common Core State Standards?
A: The final version of the standards, released June 2, 2010, is available at
www.corestandards.org. An extensive general FAQ about the standards is available here:
www.corestandards.org/frequently-asked-questions
Q: Why are the Common Core State Standards important for students, teachers, and parents?
A: The Common Core State Standards:
 Prepare all students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and
work;
 Ensure consistent expectations regardless of a student’s zip code;
 Provide educators, parents, and students with clear, focused guideposts;
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Lead to new more rigorous assessments that will drive changes in curriculum and
teacher practice.
Q: What were the criteria used to develop the Common Core State Standards?
A: The Common Core State Standards were designed to:
 Be fewer, clearer, and higher;
 Align with college and work expectations;
 Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
 Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
 Be benchmarked internationally, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our
global economy and society;
 Be based on evidence and research.
Q: Will the Common Core State Standards tell teachers exactly what and how to teach?
A (adapted from www.corestandards.org): No. The Common Core State Standards are a clear
set of shared goals and expectations for what knowledge and skills will help all our students
succeed. Local educators will decide how the standards are to be met, including decisions about
curriculum. Teachers will continue to devise lesson plans and tailor instruction to the individual
needs of the students in their classrooms. To help support this work, the State will be creating
new statewide curriculum models aligned with the Common Core State Standards (as described in its
successful Race to the Top application).
Q: What are the key differences between the Common Core State Standards and the current
NYS standards?
A: In literacy, the Common Core State Standards include
 Increased complexity from K-12, which help to articulate what students need to know
and be able to do along this trajectory and assist with differentiation;
 Literacy-building as a shared responsibility for all content area teachers;
 Emphasis on teaching reading of informational text as the grades progress;
 Emphasis on steadily increasing students’ ability to understand more and more complex
text over time;
 Integration of research skills across the standards and across all grades;
 Emphasis on writing to argue and to inform or explain in the upper grades in order to
prepare students for college-level writing.
In math, the Common Core State Standards include
 Fewer topics and more generalizing and linking of concepts;
o Better alignment with how high achieving countries teach math;
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Emphasis on both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency starting in the early
grades;
o More time to teach core concepts and reinforce them over the K-12 progression;
o Later introduction of some concepts;
Focus on mastery of complex concepts in higher math (e.g. algebra and geometry) via
hands-on learning;
Emphasis on mathematical modeling in the upper grades.
Q: Has York State adopted the Common Core State Standards? Will the standards be modified
or changed for New York State?
A: The New York State Board of Regents adopted the Common Core State Standards on July 19,
2010. All states that adopt the standards are expected to adopt them verbatim, so they will not
be modified for New York State. However, each state is allowed to add some additional statespecific standards, to comprise up to 15 percent of the state’s total standards. The SED has
established groups of educators in ELA and math to review the Common Core State Standards
for each subject and to recommend any additional standards for New York. The Board of
Regents will review these recommendations and share them for public feedback in the fall. See
the July Regents item for more information.1
2. The Common Core and Our Work
Q: What is the DOE’s timeline for rolling out the Common Core State Standards, and what is
the DOE doing to help schools prepare?
A: To prepare for the Common Core, one of the DOE’s key strategies is generating resources for
use citywide through intensive pilots with selected schools during the 2010-11 school year.
Beginning in July 2010, approximately 100 schools across clusters and networks will participate
in these pilots, which will focus on performance tasks, curriculum alignment, and text
complexity. Lessons from these pilots will inform citywide work by generating:
• Sample performance tasks
• Sample curriculum maps
• Case studies
• Pedagogical tools for teachers
• Lab sites
• Other promising practices.
1
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/home.html
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Q: What is the DOE doing to prepare schools that are not involved in the Common Core
pilots? What support will be available for networks and schools?
A: During the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years, network teams will work with schools citywide
to build school leader and teacher capacity, leveraging teacher teams to help educators:
• Understand Common Core State Standards;
• Modify curriculum maps and learning targets;
• Design or select effective formative assessments aligned to Common Core;
• Adjust teacher pedagogy;
• Outline specific strategies for differentiating instructional support so all students,
including English language learners and students with disabilities, meet the expectations
outlined in Common Core State Standards.
Specifically, we are asking schools to work toward three key goals during the 2010-11 school
year:
1) Each school exposes its teachers to at least two professional learning experiences to
better understand the Common Core State Standards.
2) Schools should continue to work toward the goal of 90 percent of teachers engaged in
teams using inquiry. All teacher teams should begin to integrate review of student work
products (e.g., student writing) as part of examining student data in the inquiry cycle. At
least 20 percent of teacher teams in each school should focus their efforts on preparing
for the new standards.
3) Each school should set one goal for 2010-11 that will be their entry point into
developing a long-term transition plan to prepare for the new standards. By 2011-12,
transition plans should address these questions:
> How does the school need to modify learning targets?
> What new skills do teachers need, and how will teachers be supported?
> What differentiated instructional supports will be needed so all students,
including ELLs and students with disabilities, meet the expectations of the CCS?
> How will classroom and periodic assessment tasks need to shift?
> Is the school’s use of time and other resources aligned to support this work?
Q: How does the Common Core work connect to my school’s other instructional priorities?
A: The work of understanding and beginning to integrate the Common Core State Standards,
focused on preparing students for college and career readiness by the time they graduate from
high school through increasing the rigor of K-12 instruction, is very closely tied to the goals and
work of the other major instructional initiatives you may be involved in, including special
education reform, teacher effectiveness/empowerment, post-secondary readiness, and
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collaborative inquiry. As schools engage in ongoing instructional efforts, it will be essential to
think through how the new standards will impact these priorities.
Q: How can collaborative inquiry work and teacher teams support the rollout of the Common
Core State Standards?
A: Collaborative inquiry is closely tied to the work that teacher teams will be doing over the
next couple of years, including beginning to unwrap the Common Core State Standards and
examining student work to assess the rigor of the tasks teachers are currently asking students
to complete. Teacher teams will be a critical resource for schools to do this Common Core
work; schools need to make decisions about the best way to allocate teacher time and focus in
teacher teams. The minimum expectation is that 20% of a school’s teacher teams will focus on
preparing for the Common Core State Standards and that all teacher teams will examine
student work products (e.g., student writing) as part of their review of student data in the
inquiry cycle.
3. Assessments and Accountability
Q: When will New York State assessments be aligned with the Common Core State
Standards?
A: New York State assessments will still align to the current New York State Standards during
the 2010-11 school year. NYS will begin incorporating the Common Core State Standards into
the New York state tests during the 2011-12 school year.
In addition, New York, as part of a 26 state consortium, was recently awarded a federal grant to
design literacy and math assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards, to be
operationalized in 2014-15.
Q: What is the federal grant for Common Core-aligned assessments that New York State has
received?
A: New York State is part of the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers, a consortium of 26 states. On September 2, PARCC was awarded approximately $170
million from the USDE to develop assessments for the 2014-15 school year. Read the press
release for more information. For a summary of the proposal, visit
www.achieve.org/PARCCsummary. To see the full proposal and related materials, go to the
Florida Department of Education Web site at www.fldoe.org/parcc.
Q: What will the new New York State assessments look like?
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A: The goal of the new state assessments in math and literacy will be to assess the full range of
the Common Core State Standards, pushing beyond current state tests to assess higher-order
knowledge and skills using performance tasks. Skills assessed by these tasks will include the
ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, reason, and problem-solve.
Specifically, the new state literacy and math assessments are expected to be grounded in the
following principles:
 Allow accountability decisions for students, teachers, and schools;
 Improve teaching and learning;
 Prepare students for college and careers.
Q: When will Periodic Assessments be aligned to the Common Core State Standards?
A: The DOE is currently developing plans to align the centrally-provided Periodic Assessment
options to support the transition to the Common Core Standards over the next 3-4 years. The
DOE plans to modify existing assessment selections and introduce new options as early as the
2011-12 school year. Schools that applied for the Design Your Own (DYO) Periodic Assessment
option may choose to align their assessments to the Common Core State Standards as soon as
they are ready to do so. Schools that have questions about the Periodic Assessment portfolio
should reach out to the Periodic Assessment Team at 212-374-5162 or
Periodicassessment@schools.nyc.gov.
Q: Why is it important for schools to engage with the Common Core State Standards now,
when the state tests will still align with the New York State Standards in 2010-11?
A: Given the increased rigor of the Common Core State Standards and the implications for
many different aspects of schools’ work, it will be important for schools to think of integrating
the Common Core State Standards as a multi-year process that includes improving
organizational structures as well as building teacher capacity. Some students who will need to
be able to pass Common Core-aligned state assessments in order to be promoted or graduate
from high school are already enrolled in our schools. Schools that develop thoughtful multi-year
transition plans now will be ready to be held accountable for student achievement on Common
Core-aligned state assessments when the time comes.
Q: How will the new Common Core State Standards impact the Quality Review rubric?
A: The Common Core State Standards have been integrated into the 2010-11 Quality Review in
several places, including indicators 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3. Beginning in 2010-11, schools will be
expected to begin integrating the expectations of the Common Core State Standards into their
planning around adjusting curriculum, instruction, assessment, staff capacity-building, and
organizational resources.
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In Quality Statement 4.3, proficient and well developed schools provide “professional
learning opportunities…including exposure to the evolving State standards” and well
developed schools “plan to address the impact these standards will have on adult
learning needs.”
In Quality Statement 5.1, proficient and well developed schools “have structures in
place to regularly evaluate and adjust curricular and instructional practices in response
to student learning needs and the expectations of the evolving State standards.”
In Quality Statement 5.2, proficient and well developed schools “have begun planning to
integrate the expectations of the evolving State standards into assessment practices.”
In Quality Statement 5.3, well developed schools “[engage] in long-term (i.e. multi-year)
planning, monitoring and revising plans based on evidence of student performance and
the expectations of the evolving State standards.”
Q: What might “performance-based assessment tasks” look like in math and literacy?
A: Performance assessments ask students to create an answer or a product that demonstrates
and applies their knowledge or skills. These high school level examples, drawn from the PARCC
proposal, were selected to show the kind of deep analytic thinking students will need to engage
in to meet the Common Core State Standards and be prepared for college and careers.
 Example math performance tasks
o Extended constructed response
A recommended adult dosage of the cold medication NoMoreFlu is 16 mL. NoMoreFlu
causes drowsiness when there are more than 4 mL in one’s system, in which case it is
unsafe to drive, operate heavy machinery, etc. The manufacturer wants to print a
warning label telling people how long they should wait after taking NoMoreFlu for the
drowsiness to pass. The typical metabolic rate is such that one quarter of the
NoMoreFlu is lost every four hours.
(a) If a person takes the full dosage, how long should adults wait after taking
NoMoreFlu to ensure there will be
(i) Less than 4 mL of NoMoreFlu in their system?
(ii) Less than 1 mL in their system?
(iii) Less than 0.1 mL in their system?
(b) What do you think the warning label should say? Design the label and explain
the thinking behind your design.
CCSS Match: F.LE.1c; F.LE.2 and Mathematical Practices 2, 3 & 6. Source: This
item was contributed by Jason Zimba, Professor of Physics and Mathematics,
Bennington College; Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National
Governors Association – original source unknown.
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o Extended assessment (requires depth of understanding of mathematical
concepts and the ability to apply mathematics to real world problems).
A company that sells juice in small cartons like the one shown below has a
problem. The straight straw attached to the outside of each carton keeps
getting lost inside.
Diameter of hole = 6mm
10 mm
10 mm
Use mathematics to explore and describe the nature
and cause of the problem faced by the company.
Investigate how the problem could be fixed.
106 mm
Create a report for the company describing as many
different solutions to the straw-and-juice-box problem
as possible.
40 mm
64 mm
Source: Ann Shannon and Associates.
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Example literacy performance tasks
o Extended constructed response – focused literacy: Compare two or more
recorded or live productions of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman to the
written text, evaluating how each version interprets the source text and
debating which aspects of the enacted interpretations of the play best capture a
particular character, scene, or theme. CCSS Match: 11-12.RL.7. Source: CCSS
Appendix B: Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks.
o Extended writing/research – science/technical texts:
 Sample Task A: Evaluating evidence. Compare what the latest science
tells us about Genetically Modified food against the arguments offered
for and against Genetically Modified food. Evaluate the hypotheses,
data, analysis, and conclusions of each side, including determining the
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extent to which each side in the debate over Genetically Modified food
relies on the available science, argues from an economic perspective or
appeals to political and emotional concerns. Verify the data from each
author and corroborate or challenge the conclusions with other sources
of information. CCSS Match: 11-12.RST.8. Source: Achieve.
Sample Task B: Making a claim. Read and view different examples of
case-making materials related to the GM food debate. Take a position
and cite specific textual evidence from your sources, attending to
important distinctions each author makes and to any gaps or
inconsistencies in the account. Defend your conclusion from counterclaims. Create a presentation of your analysis that highlights key evidence
and your strongest claims. CCSS Match: 11-12.RST.1 and 11-12.RST.9.
Source: Achieve.
o Extended writing/research – history/social studies texts:
 Sample Task A: Analysis of primary documents2 related to the major
events leading to the Civil War. Integrate information from a diverse
selection of primary documents into a coherent understanding of the key
events that lead to the American Civil war. For example, documents could
include the following: the Missouri Compromise (1820), the Nullification
Crisis (1832), the Compromise of 1850 (1850), the Kansas-Nebraska Act
(1854), Charles Sumner Attacked (1856), the Dred Scott Decision (1857),
the Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858), the John Brown Raid (1859) and the
Election of Abraham Lincoln (1860). CCSS Match: 11-12.RH.9. Source:
Achieve.
 Sample Task B. Analysis of secondary sources. Integrate and evaluate at
least three historical interpretations of the events leading to the Civil War
in order to answer the following questions: was the Civil War inevitable?
Why did the War break out in 1861, rather than decades earlier or later
(or did the compromises of 1820 and 1850 maintain the peace or simply
delay the war)? How were the North and the South different and how did
these differences shape events of the mid 19th Century? Cite specific
textual evidence to support your analysis. CCSS Match: 11-12.RH.1 and
11-12.RH.7. Source: Achieve
2
Sources could include books, magazines, newspapers, some government documents, reports, advertisements,
maps, pamphlets, posters, laws, and court decisions. Ideas for this item came from model curriculum and
assessment items published by Massachusetts (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mus/muspdf/cwcurriculum.pdf).
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