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The Common Core State Standards Implications for Teacher Preparation

The Importance and Impact of Effective Practice K-16

Dorothy S. Strickland, Ph.D.Samuel DeWitt Proctor Professor Emerita

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

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Overview: Issues! Challenges! Assumptions-

briefly

Linking the Key Design Considerations of the Common Core State Standards with Effective Practice K-16

Cautions and Concerns

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Issues! Challenges! Assumptions! A Common Core State Standards Literacy Perspective

Teachers who demonstrate proficiency relative to the K-12 Common Core State Standards will be better able to teach them.

Not all teacher candidates come to college with high-level CCSS competencies.

Teacher preparation programs have a responsibility to graduate students who possess high level literacy skills and the pedagogical knowledge and ability to teach them.

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Key design consideration #1

An Integrated Model of Literacy

K-12Language arts

integrated with each other and with content.

Emphasis placed on critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration with peers.

College (Teacher Prep. +)

Assignments are designed to increase students content knowledge about education and teaching pedagogy and, at the same time, increase students’ ability to “think” with a variety of texts.

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Key design consideration #2

Cumulative Model of Expectations

K-12 Grade specific

standards addressed in tandem with broader goals of college and career readiness.

Concept of spiraling.

College (Teacher Prep. +)

A challenge in Higher Ed. with no set sequence. However, elements of spiraling can be included in prerequisite courses with a degree of mastery expected in requisite courses.

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Key design consideration #3

Shared Responsibility for Students’ Literacy Development

K-12 Grade level and

cross disciplinary planning support students’ ability to apply literacy skills to actual content under study.

College (Teacher Prep. +)

Increased planning among college faculty to insure that course assignments reflect the skills required to help students think critically with texts.

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Key design consideration #4

Research and media skills blended into standards as a whole.

K-12 Critical thinking

with texts in all forms of media and technology is emphasized. Equal balance of literary and informational texts.

College (Teacher Prep. +)

Assignments require a variety of media technology for investigating questions and sharing (written and oral) what is learned.

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Key design consideration #5Greater use of on-grade-level & complex texts

K-12 Texts represent a

range of complexity; used for various purposes: reading aloud; shared & guided reading; independent reading.

Teachers scaffold students toward independence.

College (Teacher Prep. +) Scaffolding includes a

series of assignments that progress toward student independence: (1) instructor modeling; (2) instructor/class collaboration; (3) independent assignments.

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Cautions and ConcernsThere is a critical need for -- Genuine engagement of teachers

in curriculum design and implementation

ongoing, embeddedprofessional development

Maintaining the focus on --Learning How to Learn!!!