Category Archives: Common Core State Standards

Gov. Brown calls for ‘balanced’ approach to testing and accountability | EdSource

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By Louis Freedberg

As millions of California students tackle new assessments aligned with the Common Core, Gov. Jerry Brown in one of his more expansive comments on testing and measurements last week called for a “balanced” approach to testing, and expressed skepticism about pressures to hold schools more accountable for achieving results, and on students to show constant improvement.

At the same time, he said at a press conference about his proposed revisions to the state budget, billions of additional funds that will be pouring into public schools should make parents feel “optimistic and hopeful that their children will get a better education.” The extra funds, he said, should also help teachers get paid more, create more programs, and to fund those that have been cut during the recession.

“Tests, metrics, measures, these are good,” he said in response to a question about whether the state has sufficient accountability measures in place to ensure that its funds are being used adequately, and that children are making sufficient progress. But he questioned the need for uniform metrics to measure how all children and teachers are doing.

via Gov. Brown calls for ‘balanced’ approach to testing and accountability | EdSource#.VVtsgmfbLGg#.VVtsgmfbLGg.

Could Common Core Help Grow Arts Education in Schools? | MindShift

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Arts programs have long suffered cuts as schools adjust to meeting the growing demands of academic performance and standardized tests. Students are rarely tested on the arts, and arts knowledge is challenging to measure, so it becomes an easy target when schools are pressed for money and results. So how does one justify arts spending when test scores are at stake?

Ascend Learning charter schools is betting on the arts to tap into the benefits of arts in learning, according to The Hechinger Report. Students are surrounded by art and the schools replicate a museum-like environment. While the demands of academic performance has had its role in cuts to the arts, educators are hoping that Common Core standards will bring back attention to the importance of the arts, as Sara Neufeld reports for The Hechinger Report:

via Could Common Core Help Grow Arts Education in Schools? | MindShift.

Project-based learning on the rise under the Common Core | EdSource

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By Katherine Ellison and Louis Freedberg

The young-adult novel “Hatchet” – about a boy who learns to live in the wild after surviving a plane crash – has been a staple of elementary-school English classes for years. But this year Sara Siebert taught it with a twist.

She assigned her fifth-graders at the Santiago Elementary School in the Santa Ana Unified School District to build rafts out of popsicle sticks, string, duct tape and glue to recreate part of the book in which the boy uses his only tool – a hatchet his mother gave him before his departure – to build a raft.In the process, the students not only gained new appreciation for the novel but drew on their math skills to measure and design their materials, and deepened their knowledge of science by learning about buoyancy and solubility.

via Project-based learning on the rise under the Common Core | EdSource#.VT-0OGctHGg#.VT-0OGctHGg.

‘We were all anticipating the challenges’ of Common Core | EdSource

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By Laurie Udesky

EdSource is conducting a series of interviews featuring educators’ experiences with the Common Core State Standards. San Jose Unified is one of six districts that EdSource is following during implementation of the new standards. For more information about the Common Core, check out our guide.

Vito Chiala has been the principal of Overfelt High School in San Jose for eight years. Prior to that he was assistant principal of the school for three years, and before that he taught there for three years.

Chiala’s first teaching assignment was at Foothill High School in San Jose. Chiala, however, said he had not intended to be an educator. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in English at San Francisco State University, he managed restaurants at San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis Hotel. But Chiala felt something was missing. “I didn’t feel like I was making an impact on society,” he said. A friend told him about an opening at Foothill High School in East San Jose, a continuation school, where he would work with students who had been failing academically. His job was to help prepare them for taking the high school equivalency, or GED, test.

via ‘We were all anticipating the challenges’ of Common Core | EdSource#.VS6Rx2ctHGg#.VS6Rx2ctHGg.

STEM grant attracts local math, science teachers – Daily Republic

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By Susan Winlow

STEM education – science, technology, engineering and math – just got a $1.8 million boost in Solano County schools.

The Solano County Office of Education received the grant to enhance STEM education through a partnership with the University of California, Davis Computing-STEM Center.

The grant will provide professional development over the next three years for up to 75 teachers in Solano and Contra Costa counties.The grant was awarded by the California Department of Education, through the California Math and Science Partnership, for teachers in grades fifth through 12th who teach math, science or math-based career technical education.

via STEM grant attracts local math, science teachers Daily Republic.

Definition of Core Subjects Expanded Under Senate Bipartisan NCLB Rewrite – Education Week

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By Lauren Camera

The Senate draft of the rewritten No Child Left Behind Act adds writing, music, computer science, technology, and physical education to the list of disciplines it defines as “core academic subjects.”

That shift, buried deep in the 601-page Every Child Achieves Act, which was released yesterday, appears to be something of a response to the years-old debate about NCLBs curriculum-narrowing effect. It was greeted with jubilation at the National Association for Music Education, for instance, which issued a glowing press release noting the inclusion of music in the laws list of core subjects.

Here’s No Child Left Behinds list of core academic subjects. Youll find it on page 534 of the PDF, as part of Title IX.

via Definition of Core Subjects Expanded Under Senate Bipartisan NCLB Rewrite – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

VUSD students to face more standardized tests this year – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

In the first full year of Common Core, Vacaville Unified students will face twice as much all-computerized state testing as they did last year, a school district officials said Friday.

In an update on the Smarter Balanced tests, Mark Frazier, the school district’s chief academic officer, and Kim Forrest, director of instruction, curriculum and assessment, told trustees Thursday that students in grades three through eight and 11 will begin testing beginning the week of April 27, ending, with the exception of one school, during the week of May 18. The test is called the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CASSPP), which replaces the paper-based, entirely multiple-choice Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program.

The test measures students’ ability to write analytically, think critically, solve problems, and tests their knowledge of facts in a given subject.

via VUSD students to face more standardized tests this year.

Vaca Peña leader lays out school data for trustees – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The main purpose of metadata is to ease the discovery of relevant information. It also helps to organize resources of all kinds.

That partial definition is one way to describe a detailed report from Vaca Peña Middle School Principal Jeff Crane, who, at Thursday’s Vacaville Unified trustees meeting, laid out an A-to-Z glimpse of the Keith Way campus in a numbers-filled presentation.

Speaking to the governing board in the Educational Services Center, he provided myriad telling sets of data in a 40-minute annual state-of-the-school report, called STAIR, for Student Achievement and Intervention Report.

Standing at the lectern, he touched on enrollment trends at the 850-student campus; student participation in honors classes, regular classes and extracurricular activities; professional development among educators; the number of students deemed proficient or advanced in math and English (including data about English language learners); interventions; and attendance, referral, suspensions and expulsion rates.

via Vaca Peña leader lays out school data for trustees.

DUSD leaders to hear update on new computer tests – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

When they meet tonight, Dixon Unified leaders will hear an update on new all-computerized state tests and they may approve a “constitutional advance” from the county.

Public schools countywide have begun giving online exams in English language arts and mathematics based on the state’s new academic standards.

Exact testing dates are determined by each school and local school district officials, but it was unclear from agenda documents when they would occur in Dixon.

Mike Walbridge, assistant superintendent of educational services, will make the presentation to the five-member governing board.

With the new tests — called Smarter Balanced and developed by the Educational Testing Service — students in grades three through eight and 11 will take the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), replacing the paper-based, multiple-choice Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program. They will take the tests using desktop computers, Chromebooks, and tablet computers.

via DUSD leaders to hear update on new computer tests.

New online era of student testing begins in Solano – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Schools across Solano County have begun giving online exams in English language arts and mathematics based on the state’s more challenging academic standards, County Superintendent of Schools Jay Speck said Wednesday.

Exact testing dates are determined by each school’s calendar and local school district officials, he said in a press release.

Vacaville Unified leaders, who will meet Thursday during a governing board meeting, will be updated on the new tests, which will begin in most district schools beginning the week of April 27, ending during the week of May 18.

With the new tests — called Smarter Balanced and developed by the Educational Testing Service — students in grades three through eight and 11 will take the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), replacing the paper-based, multiple-choice Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program. They will take the tests using desktop computers, Chromebooks, and tablet computers.

via New online era of student testing begins in Solano.

In California, some districts face minimal opposition to Common Core | EdSource

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By Katherine Ellison

In contrast to other parts of the country where the Common Core standards have run into fierce opposition, several large California school districts and communities served by a leading charter-school organization have experienced considerable support and little overt opposition to the new standards in math and English language arts.

That’s according to interviews conducted by EdSource Today as part of its coverage of the Common Core standards in six school districts – Santa Ana and Garden Grove in Orange County, Fresno and Visalia in the Central Valley, and San Jose and Elk Grove in Northern California – and the Aspire Public Schools charter management organization.

The superintendents of the six districts uniformly reported that opposition has been relatively minor. “We’ve had somebody speak at our board meeting (against the Common Core) maybe once, maybe twice,” said Michael Hanson, superintendent of the Fresno Unified School District.

via In California, some districts face minimal opposition to Common Core | EdSource#.VRrNFmctHGg#.VRrNFmctHGg.

New tests to tell juniors if they’re college-ready | EdSource

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By John Fensterwald

This is a transition year for the California State University’s Early Assessment Program, a decade-old early warning system that tells 11th-graders whether they are prepared for college-level work – and steps they should take if they’re not. Caught in the switch to a new test and new academic standards, more juniors may be told that they’re not yet ready.

Until this year, the Early Assessment Program’s test consisted of a combination of questions on the old 11th-grade California Standards Tests, plus a writing sample and 30 additional math and English language arts problems that CSU developed.

With the transition to the Common Core, California education officials pushed to replace the EAP test with the new Smarter Balanced tests to provide a common set of college readiness measurements that all member states of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium could use. The other states agreed with this approach.

via New tests to tell juniors if they’re college-ready | EdSource#.VRl-tmctHGg#.VRl-tmctHGg.

Common Core standards are “natural next step” | EdSource

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By Michael Collier

EdSource is conducting a series of interviews featuring educators’ experiences with the Common Core State Standards. Elk Grove Unified is one of six districts that EdSource is following during implementation of the new standards. For more information about the Common Core, check out our guide.

Chris Hoffman, superintendent of the Elk Grove Unified School District, is the first superintendent of the district to have received his K-12 education there. He talked with EdSource recently about preparing teachers and students for the Common Core standards in his district. Here are excerpts from the interview:

We’ve seen a lot of reforms come and go over the years. How are you dealing with the Common Core? Do you see this as a major reform?

I think it’s a natural next step. We’re not having conversations anymore about whether we should have standards. It took us three to four years just to get people to believe we should have standards versus not having standards. This is more about the quality of the standards and what it is that we are asking kids to know and be able to do.

via Common Core standards are “natural next step” | EdSource#.VRl-OWctHGg#.VRl-OWctHGg.

Smarter Balanced interim assessments delayed for most students | EdSource

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By Laurie Udesky

As millions of California students prepare to take the new Smarter Balanced assessments this spring, most will not have had the benefit of taking a series of “interim assessments” that were supposed to help them and their teachers prepare for the new tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards.

The interim assessments were supposed to give students a way to rehearse for the Smarter Balanced assessments and allow teachers to see how well students had mastered the math and English Language Arts curriculum tied to the Common Core.

That’s not how it has worked out, however. The interim assessments were supposed to be in the hands of educators last fall. But the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium didn’t complete them until the end of January, too late for most teachers or districts to use them extensively, according to interviews conducted by EdSource.

via Smarter Balanced interim assessments delayed for most students | EdSource#.VRLyFGctHGg#.VRLyFGctHGg.

Dates for new Common Core assessments vary by district | EdSource

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By Katherine Ellison

Between now and mid-June, approximately 3.2 million California students will take new online tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards, marking a new era in California’s multi-decade efforts to establish an accountability system to assess student performance.

Precisely when students will take the tests will vary from district to district and from school to school, according to each district’s instructional calendar. Districts typically provide schools with windows of time in which the tests may be given, and then allow schools to set the exact dates for them.

Under a complicated formula set by California law, the tests cannot be given until at least 66 percent of the school’s instructional days have been completed, for elementary school students, and until 80 percent of those days have been completed in the case of high school students.

via Dates for new Common Core assessments vary by district | EdSource#.VRGMMWctHGg#.VRGMMWctHGg.

How to fix No Child Left Behind | EdSource

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By Diane Ravitch

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s commentary for EdSource last month, called “How Not to Fix No Child Left Behind,” consisted for the most part of mushy platitudes that must be measured against the realities of his actions over the past six years.

During that time, Duncan has aggregated an unprecedented power to tell states and districts how to operate. The administration’s Race to the Top program was not passed into law by Congress, yet it was funded with $5 billion awarded by Congress as part of the economic stimulus plan following the 2008 recession.

Duncan used that huge financial largesse to make himself the nation’s education czar. When states were most economically distressed, he dangled billions of dollars before them in a competition. They were not eligible to enter the competition unless they agreed to lift caps on opening more privately managed charter schools, to rely on test scores to a significant degree when evaluating teachers, to adopt “college-and-career-ready standards” (aka the Common Core standards, which had not even been completed in 2009 when the competition was announced) and to take dramatic action to “turn around” schools with low test scores (such as closing the school or firing all or most of the staff).

via How to fix No Child Left Behind | EdSource#.VQMHqWctHGg#.VQMHqWctHGg.

Local educators hail state ed board’s decision to suspend API for one year – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville-area educators on Thursday hailed state education leaders’ decision to suspend for one year the Academic Performance Index (API), the so-called “report card on schools,” as Sacramento officials develop a broader measurement system rather than a single, test-based metric.

The decision, which the state Board of Education unanimously made Wednesday, came as California school district academic officers, tech-support employees and teachers are still struggling, in some cases, to get used to new technology and the all-computerized tests ushered in with the Common Core State Standards within the last year.

“There’s been a major learning curve with all the new technology, and it’s radically different from what we’ve done before,” said Moira McSweeney, president of the 680-member Vacaville Teachers Association, “It’s something the California Teachers Association has been working on. We are in support of it.”

via Local educators hail state ed board’s decision to suspend API for one year.

California suspends other standards for Common Core, for now – The Reporter

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By Christine Armario, Associated Press

One set of California school standards has temporarily fallen victim to another.

California’s school accountability system and its new Common Core academic standards were put head-to-head on Wednesday, and Common Core won.

At a meeting in Sacramento, the states Board of Education suspended its Academic Performance Index for the 2014-2015 school year. The move is intended to give teachers and students time to adjust to new standardized tests aligned with the Common Core standards.

The suspended index used student results on statewide tests to rank schools and to identify those that need improvement.

via California suspends other standards for Common Core, for now.

Common Core enters arena of presidential politics | EdSource

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By Louis Freedberg

With the growing certainty that Jeb Bush will be a candidate in the 2016 presidential campaign, his support for the Common Core State Standards guarantees that the standards being implemented in 43 states will be drawn into the whirlpool of presidential politics.

It is uncertain, however, what impact that will have on the future of the standards, one of the most significant education reforms in decades. What is at stake is whether the Common Core becomes the transformative national reform its proponents are hoping it will be – or whether it becomes a polarizing issue on the education landscape with diminishing public support.

One gloomy scenario envisions the Common Core lurching toward a possible terminal fate, at least in states where there is rising opposition. UC Berkeley public policy professor David Kirp, a longtime education scholar, wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed piece titled “Rage against the Common Core” that “in states where the opposition is passionate and powerful, it will take a herculean effort to get the standards back on track.”

via Common Core enters arena of presidential politics | EdSource#.VNEIA2ctHGg#.VNEIA2ctHGg.

Districts seeking reimbursement for Common Core test costs | EdSource

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By John Fensterwald

The state could be liable for as much as $1 billion per year in costs if a group of school districts succeeds in winning reimbursement for expenses associated with the implementation of computer-based tests in the Common Core and other new state standards.

Four unified districts – Santa Ana, Vallejo, Plumas and Porterville – and the Plumas County Office of Education filed a claim to classify the new tests as state mandates. If the Commission on State Mandates agrees, the state will be required to reimburse all districts statewide seeking to recover costs. The California School Boards Association, which is financing the effort, announced the filing Wednesday.

With Assembly Bill 484, passed in 2013, the Legislature replaced STAR, the testing system for the former state standards, with a new testing regimen called the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress program, or CAASPP. It lays out a timetable for a series of statewide computer-administered assessments, starting this spring with the Smarter Balanced tests on the Common Core State Standards in math and English language arts that all districts must give.

via Districts seeking reimbursement for Common Core test costs | EdSource#.VMu7cGctHGg#.VMu7cGctHGg.