Expecting the Best
Communicating About the Importance
of Common Core
www.ReadyWA.org
October 22, 2013
Agenda
• What is Common Core?
• Why Common Core?
• What’s Different?
• Questions/Answers
2
Agenda
Group activity (20 minutes)
• Barriers: Identify 5 barriers to communicating
to families about Common Core
• Key messages: How would you communicate
the value of Common Core to your neighbor?
3
What is
Common Core?
4
What is Common Core?
• What’s your level of knowledge?
• How would you describe Common Core?
• Why are we raising expectations for students?
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What is Common Core?
The Common Core State Standards:
• K-12 learning standards in math and English
language arts (math, reading & writing)
• Learning standards set expectations for what
students should know and be able to do by
the end of a specific section or by the end of
the school year in each grade.
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What is Common Core?
The Common Core State Standards:
• Raise the level of learning expectations for all
students
• Match the learning standards of
top-performing nations
• Developed and voluntarily adopted by 46
states in collaboration with educators, experts
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What is Common Core?
• Until now, all 50 states had different learning
standards
• This is a big change in the way students learn
and one that will take time to see results (first
test scores released in summer 2015)
• It’s an approach that will help students
compete for quality jobs Washington state and
our nation have to offer.
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What is Common Core?
• Jeff Charbonneau, 2013 National Teacher of
the Year (Zillah, WA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI5Ufnf8E
m8
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Why
Common Core?
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Why Common Core?
• Economy
– Common Core first developed by governors and
state school chiefs, realizing U.S. is losing battle to
remain globally competitive
• Equity
– All students have the same expectations;
different starting positions, same finish line
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Why Common Core?
October 2013, OECD Releases Results
Tested adults in 24-countries on skills
important to succeeding in the workplace.
American adults performed below the
international average in:
• Math
• Reading
• Problem-solving
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Why Common Core?
Washington state’s economy:
• Washington ranks 1st in concentration of
STEM jobs.
– STEM = science, technology, engineering and math
• Washington ranks 1st in the creation of
software companies.
• Washington’s ranks 4th in the nation in
technology-based corporations.
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Why Common Core?
March 2013, Washington Roundtable report:
“Great Jobs Within Our Reach: Addressing the
Growing Job Skills Gap”
• Right now, Washington has 25,000 unfilled
jobs for highly-skilled workers – and that
number is projected to double by 2017.
• 80% of jobs in STEM and healthcare fields
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Why Common Core?
Currently in Washington:
• Less than half of our students graduate from
high school ready for college
– 48% of students in Washington’s 2-year colleges
require remediation.
– 37% of students in Washington’s 4-year
universities require remediation.
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Why Common Core?
Currently in Washington:
• Washington has the 12th largest achievement
gap in the country; one of a dozen states
where it continues to grow
– Based on Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs)
released last week, all but Asian students
regressed from 2012 to 2013
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Why Common Core?
• Washington ranks 38th in the nation for the
number of bachelor’s degrees awarded per
capita.
• By 2018, 2 out of every 3 jobs in WA will
require a college degree or certificate
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Why Common Core?
Last Thursday, a poll of 200 Oregon high school students
by Chalkboard Project was released:
• Only 18 percent reported they are "very satisfied" with
their own education, with 28 percent unsatisfied and
51 percent "somewhat satisfied."
• Asked whether they think public schools in Oregon
expect students to learn too little or too much, 45
percent said too little. About 35 percent said the
academic demand is "about right," and 17 percent said
schools ask too much.
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Common Core:
What’s
Different?
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Common Core: What’s Different?
• Consistent learning expectations for all
students
– Different starting positions; same finish line
• Clear standards that focus on deeper
understanding
– Typical state standards a “mile wide and an inch deep”
• Critical skills students need in the job market
– Help them compete in the global economy
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What’s Different?
Consistent learning expectations
• Before Common Core, all 50 states had different
sets of expectations for what students should
know and be able to do in each grade.
• Common Core provides a consistent set of
learning standards and expectations for all
students, no matter where they live.
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What’s Different?
Clear standards, deeper understanding
• Common Core goes deeper into fewer
topics and focuses on developing students’
deeper understanding of key concepts.
• The standards build on one another, allowing
students to apply the skills and knowledge they
learned in the previous grade to real-life
situations.
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What is Common Core?
Critical skills for the job market
• Common Core focuses on building and applying
real-world skills students need to be ready for
college and work.
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What’s Different?
Common Core and Testing
• Next generation assessment system (Smarter
Balanced or PARCC depending on your state)
• Technology based
• Adaptive and interim exams
• Higher bar; scores will be initially lower than on
typical state exams
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What’s Different?
Common Core and Testing
Jeff Charbonnuea talks about importance of testing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avr3u8XI6es
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Group Activity
Family Engagement
• Barriers: What do you see as barriers to
communicating Common Core to families? (5 minutes)
• Key messages: How would you communicate the value
of Common Core to your neighbor? (10 minutes)
• Report: Let us know your group ideas
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Questions/
Answers
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Common Core FAQs
Will schools and teachers still have control over
teaching materials and other local decisions?
• Yes. The way in which the Common Core learning
standards are taught is up to each of
Washington’s 295 school districts and more than
2,000 schools. Each school or district will
continue to have the flexibility to select the
teaching materials and resources that best meet
the needs of its students.
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Common Core FAQs
If we raise learning expectations, will the tests
be harder, too?
• Initially, yes. But not because students will know
less, because we’ll expect more. Research shows
that when you raise learning expectations,
students will work harder to meet them. Most
parents and teachers understand that a drop in
test scores is temporary, and that raising learning
standards is important for our economy and our
students’ futures.
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Common Core FAQs
Who developed Common Core?
• A non-partisan group of governors and state
school chiefs started working together on shared
standards in 2009.
• Hundreds of teachers, education researchers,
mathematicians, and other experts across the
country provided input and guidance in a
collaborative process.
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Questions/Answers
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Common Core FAQs
Do people in WA support Common Core?
• Yes, across Washington, 80% of parents,
teachers and people like you support the
Common Core. (January 2013 poll by Strategies 360 for Washington STEM)
• 70% of teachers and voters agree that
common standards in math and English will
improve student learning and achievement.
(January 2013 poll by DHM Research for Excellent Schools Now)
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Common Core FAQs
Do teachers support Common Core?
• Nearly 75% of 20,000 teachers surveyed by
Scholastic, Inc., said Common Core will
improve students’ abilities to reason and think
critically.
– "When you get down to what's happening in the classroom, the
teachers support it. And without the teachers, Common Core cannot
happen.” -- Margery Mayer, Scholastic's president of education
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Ready Washington Coalition
• Ready Washington is a coalition of state and local
education agencies, associations and advocacy
organizations that support college- and career-ready
learning standards. The coalition believes all students
should be better prepared for college, work and life
to build the skills to compete for the quality jobs that
our state has to offer.
• Sign on to coalition by supporting Common Core and
agree to disseminate materials/messaging
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Learn More
Visit www.ReadyWA.org
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Handouts
FAQs
Info on WA’s Common Core efforts
Videos
Facebook.com/ReadyWA
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Ready WA Website
ReadyWA.org
features videos
and a story on
Jeff Charbonneau,
the 2013 National
Teacher of the
Year.
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Newsletter
Sign up to receive
the Real Learning
for Real Life
newsletter from
Ready Washington
at ReadyWA.org
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Poster
We sent posters to every
middle and high school in
the state. Poster is geared
toward students in grades
7-12 to think about their
futures. Download a copy
at ReadyWA.org
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Translated Handout
“What Is Common
Core” handout is
available in six
languages. Top 3 things
you should know
about Common Core
and FAQs section
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Brochure
A brochure explaining
the move to Common
Core and Next
Generation Science
Standards
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‘Expanding Expectations’ Report
Partnership for
Learning released a
report in September
on Common Core and
raising expectations in
Washington. Visit
www.parternship4learning.org
to download report.
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Thank You
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
Support for Real Learning for Real Life campaign is brought to
you in part by College Spark Washington