RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

Delaware Policymakers

SUPPORTING COMMON CORESTATE STANDARDS

PRESENTED BY

Delaware Teachers of the Year

FINDINGS | JUNE 2013

Q Do you believe that the CCSS will lead to improved learning for the majority of students you serve?

84% of respondents believe that the CCSS will increase student achievement.

Q Compared to Delaware’s past academic standards, I feel the Common Core State Standards are:

More demanding and raise expectations for student learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70%Pretty much the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27%Less demanding and lower expectations for student learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3%

Q Have you participated in professional development or other trainings related the CCSS?

97% of respondents have participated in professional development, standards alignment and mapping, or other state and/or district led activities related to the CCSS as of June 2013.

Q What CCSS related activities and resources have been made available to you?

Respondents indicated that available activities and resources varied widely, suggesting access to CCSS-related training was unequal and inconsistent across the state.

Q How prepared are you to fully transition to CCSS without more support work?

n Completely prepared . . . . . . . . . 31% n Somewhat prepared . . . . . . . . . . . . 61% n Not prepared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8%

Teachers believe incorporating new standards into their practice and fully aligning the supporting resources will occur over the coming years.

The top challenges identified related to implementing the CCSS were:

• Moreprofessionaldevelopment• Furthertimetocollaboratewithcolleagues• Additionalalignedtextbooksandmaterials

In June 2013, recent district and state Teachers of the Year from

Delaware were surveyed for their perspectives on their status of implementing of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Participating were 63 respected teachers and specialists representing all 19 districts, pre-K through 12, with six or more years experience teaching subjects including English language arts, math, social studies, science, special education, drama, art, and career and technical education.

Delaware Teachers of the Year Surveyed on Common

Core Implementation

“

”

“I see the power of the standardsand want to use them to make an impact on my students.”

“Implementing the Common Corewill be a lot of work for many teachers. They will be teaching new content, digging deeper into concepts and writing new lessons plans.”

Ensure collaborative and/or cross-curricular planning time. • Build on the success of required 90-minute Professional

Learning Community (PLC) by ensuring that all teachers receive this and have an opportunity to contribute to the development of agendas.

Align the state teacher evaluation system (DPAS II) to CCSS. • EnsurethatCCSSexpectationsandaccountability

are made clear by aligning each component of the DPASIIteacherevaluationrubricwithCCSS.

Provide high quality CCSS professional development (PD) and alignment opportunities. • ProvidePDfeaturingexemplarsandsitevisitsofCCSSimplementationfromotherschools,districtsorstatesthathavealreadyimplementedCCSS.

• ProvidePDspecifictonon-ELAandnon-mathteachers covering foundational understanding of CCSS,expectationsforCCSSincontentareas,andcontent-specificPD.

• ProvidePDthatspecificallyaddressesthenewSmarter Balanced assessment.

• Revisit the “train the trainer” PD learning model to ensurefollowthroughandaccountabilityatthelocal level.

Identify opportunities to allow teachers to focus on CCSS implementation. • Auditstateanddistrictexpectationsofteachers(includingPD,dataentry,outofclassroomresponsibilities,etc.)toidentifyopportunities for streamlining by decreasing redundant or unnecessary professional responsibilities for teachers.

Establish a repository for vetted CCSS-aligned lessons and materials. • Ensurelessons,materials,curriculum,resources,nationalplatforms,etc.bevettedbyteachersandexpertsfromthestateanddistrictsandmadeeasilyaccessibletoeveryeducatorinDelaware.

Facilitate collaboration within and across districts to develop aligned CCSS resources, specifically those related to units and lesson plans.• Provideforopportunitiestoimproveverticalalignment,createconsistencyoflearningexpectationsforstudents,maximizetimeforteachersthroughthesharingofresources,andfacilitate peer learning opportunities for teachers.

Coordinate CCSS messaging among districts.• ConveneastatewidemeetingofdistrictPublic

Information Officers (PIO) to share resources and strategies.

Enable students to progress based on proficiency or mastery of the content. • Evaluatepolicyoptionstoenablestudentadvancement

based on mastery of standards rather than time spentinacourseorgrade,therebyencouragingstudentownershipandaccountability,andfacilitatingthesuccessfulimplementationofCCSS.

Identify and audit opportunities to streamline the student assessment calendar. • Increasestudentlearningtimetoaddressmorerigorousstandardsbyappointingaworkgroupto assess opportunities to increase classroom instructional time and reduce testing burnout by identifying essential assessments and eliminating or decreasing those that are non-essential.

Allocate funding to provide:• Teacherswithtimetoplanandcollaboratewith

other educators.• CoachingrelatedtoCCSSalignmentandSmarter

Balanced assessment.• School-ordistrict-basedcontentspecialistpositions

to serve as non-evaluative master teachers.• CCSS-alignedcurriculumandresources(units,lessonplans,etc.)tofullyimplementCCSS;CCSSalignmentshould be a criteria for purchasing decisions.

• IncreasedInternetbandwidthandreliablenetworks.

TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS:..

State and Local School Board Members Delaware General Assembly | State Department of Education

BRIEF PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

About the Common Core

TheCommonCoreStateStandards(CCSS)Initiativeisastate-ledefforttoestablishasinglesetofcleareducationalstandardsforK-12English

language arts and mathematics.

Teachers,parents,schooladministrators,andexpertsfromacrossthecountryworkedtogetherwithstateleaderstodevelopthesestandards,whichhavebeenvoluntarilyadoptedby45states,includingDelawarein2010.

TheStandardsraisethebarforstudentachievementwhilestandardizingwhatstudentslearnfromonestatetothenext,betterallowingstatestoworktogether and share resources.

ItemsontheDelawarestatetesthavebeenalignedtotheCCSS,andDelawarewillsoonmovetowardtheSmarterBalancedAssessmentdevelopedbyaconsortiumofstatestomoreeffectivelymeasurestudentachievement.