New data from the RAND Corp. tracks teachers' PD needs, with a focus on topics connected to the common core.
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College and Career-Ready Standards for School Leaders
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Supporting school leaders in helping all students become college and career-ready and to succeed in post-secondary education and training
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Mel Riddile
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Massachusetts Releases First Round Of PARCC Field Test Results.
The Boston Globe (9/22, Fox) reports that Massachusetts education officials have released the results from the first year of PARCC testing in the state, noting that students “generally had lower scores” on the test. The piece quotes state Education Secretary James A. Peyser stressing that the results are preliminary, “This early report on PARCC results is preliminary and incomplete and therefore cannot yet be directly compared to this year’s MCAS results,” Secretary of Education James A. Peyser said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing the complete results as they become available.” The piece notes that the state BOE is scheduled to vote on whether to replace the MCAS with PARCC this November. The Springfield (MA) Republican (9/22) reports that MCAS scores rose this year, while “preliminary results from limited field tests of the PARCC exam were less likely to score in that test’s ‘meeting expectations’ category.” This piece also reports that Peyser “cautioned about ‘reading too much’ into the preliminary results.” The Daily Hampshire (MA) Gazette (9/22) also covers this story.
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Updated "mock" score reports on its website now show the actual cutoff points that mark the thresholds between levels of mastery, said PARCC officials. Via Darren Burris
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One teacher says she’s reading harder books with her students. A second is asking them to provide more evidence to support their answers. A third is now pushing students to find the solutions to math problems on their own. Last month, I spoke with eight actual teachers with actual classrooms...
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Results for some of the states that participated in Common Core-aligned testing for the first time this spring are out, with overall scores higher than expected though still below what many parents may be accustomed to seeing. Via Dr. Dea Conrad-Curry, Darren Burris
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The following blog post is another in the Alliance’s “Core of the Matter” blog series focusing on the... Via Darren Burris
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The latest results suggest that this year's graduating class may not be much more prepared than last year's class for college or a career.
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A growing collection of mathematics lessons that illustrate the focus, coherence, and rigor of the Standards. These lessons can be adapted for instructional purposes. Via Darren Burris
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The testing consortium approves cut scores for the high school test, but can't disclose yet what they are, since the point system--and spring performance data--are still being finalized. "The threshold scores for each high school performance level were recommended by panels of teachers who were nominated by their states and convened in Denver last month. They examined test questions, analyzed their difficulty and suggested cut points that would place students in the five performance levels, which describe how ready they are for college. The "mid range" recommendations of those teachers were the levels that were adopted by PARCC representatives today, Nellhaus said."
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"Neither university faculty nor employers believe that American public high schools are preparing students for the expectations they'll face in college and career.
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The Governor's Council on Common Core Review, chaired by Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, arrives at a bold conclusion: The Department of Education needs to review Common Core.
Mel Riddile's insight:
Arkansas Common Core Task Force Votes To Keep Standards. The Arkansas Times (7/30) reports that the Arkansas Governor’s Council on Common Core Review voted this week to recommend that the state retain the standards while the Arkansas Department of Education conducts “a comprehensive review of the standards with the goal of revising, improving and replacing” them “as warranted.” The article points out that the panel took 40 hours of hearings around the state to essentially punt the decision back to the state DOE, suggesting that the lack of action can be attributed to the standards being “a political hot potato.” The AP (7/30, DeMillo) reports that the panel approved “recommendations that called for the state’s ‘complete and unfettered control’ over the standards, but didn’t call for an outright end to the use of Common Core.” The piece reports that Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, who chaired the panel, “said he didn’t think it makes sense for the state to drop Common Core before it reviews how to replace the standards.” KTHV-TV Little Rock, AR (7/30) also covers this story.
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A new study found that in two-year colleges, only 4 percent of instructors found students "most generally able to do what is expected." The number was slightly higher in four-year schools: 12 percent. The rest reported that students had arrived to higher ed with at least some gaps in preparation.
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What's preventing U.S. states from investing in high quality instructional systems like the world's top performers? It could come down to dollars and cents.
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"The consulting group McRel did an analysis of Nebraska's previous state standards in 2013 and found that 417 of the 546 common-core math standards (or about 76 percent) were addressed by the Nebraska standards. Epler of the Nebraska education department said he anticipates that, at some point, his organization will do a crosswalk with the new standards, "mainly to support our teachers and schools as many resources (textbooks, etc.) are CCSS-based." As I've written before, common-core materials have already crept into all the states that have refused to adopt the standards—Nebraska included."
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Test results aren't yet final, because they don't include all groups of students, or the results of tests taken with paper and pencil. Via Darren Burris
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In this episode, we check up on the progress of common core implementation in the state of North Carolina.
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This past spring saw the rollout of new tests based on the Common Core standards. The reading and math tests replace traditional spring standardized tests. About 12 million students in 29 states and the District of Columbia took the tests developed by two groups — the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). According to Smarter Balanced, only a few states have released scores from the spring — Connecticut, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Missouri, West Virginia, and Vermont. Most states have not been able to put out test scores before the start of classes. The delay was expected in the exam's first year, but it's still frustrating for some teachers and parents. Scores for the almost 5 million students who took the PARCC tests still have yet to be released. PAARC is still setting benchmarks for each performance level. The partnership says they're due for release this fall, and that the goal in future years of the tests is to release the results as close to the end of the school year as possible.
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By Michael Kirst "New York, NY (August 24, 2015)—A Kaplan Test Prep survey finds that 85% of parents of college-bound students are still unaware that the SAT is changing, even after two years since the change was announced and less than seven months before the new SAT launches in March 2016.* When provided more details about the proposed changes to the SAT, the surveyed parents’ opinions about the new format were divided: 30% say they viewed the changes as something negative or think the exam will be harder; 30% view the changes as something positive; 20% are indifferent; and 15% still don’t know enough to form an opinion. However, views on specific changes reveal that a majority of parents believe the new SAT will be harder:
No Wrong Answer Penalty: The current SAT includes a ¼ point penalty for wrong answers. The new SAT eliminates the wrong answer point penalty. Fifty-six (56%) percent of parents say this change will make the new SAT easier; 22% say the change will make it harder; and 23% say it makes no difference"... For full post, click on title above or here: http://collegepuzzle.stanford.edu/?p=4782#sthash.Xo0lEUZm.dpuf
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When George Washington University announced last month that it was adopting a “test-optional” admissions policy, it repeated a standard line made by colleges that allow prospective students to opt out of sending SAT or ACT scores. “The test-optional policy should strengthen and diversify an already outstanding applicant pool and will broaden access for those high-achieving …
Mel Riddile's insight:
In practice, however, colleges have used these policies to become even more exclusive than they previously were. Here’s how schools do it: by freeing prospective students from having to provide SAT and ACT scores, they tend to attract more applicants, many of whom may have scored poorly on the tests. (The University of Georgia study found that these schools “receive approximately 220 more applications, on average, after adopting a test-optional policy.”)
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Engage your students with high-quality informational text that allows them to explore their own interests. Natalie Franzi and Steve Figurelli share five fabulous websites.
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Prince George’s “Camp IB” and other summer efforts prepare students for rigorous academic challenges.
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Under fire from conservatives, changes are made to AP U.S. History framework. Facing Conservative Pressure, College Board Revises AP History Test.
The Washington Post (7/31, Layton) reports that on Thursday the college board released “a new version” of its AP history course, noting that it has been “under fire during the past year from conservatives for revisions it made” to the course in 2014. The piece notes that conservatives “slammed the 2014 Advanced Placement history course saying it overemphasized negative aspects of US history.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/31) also covers this story.
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Education officials say PARCC saved $2.5M compared to previous state tests State education officials say new standardized tests last year saved the state more than $2.5 million, compared to previous state assessments.
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Ultimate Maths helps you to discover mathematics. Learn and revise number, algebra, shape and data topics and access our large data bank of learning resources.
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Interesting... very little time is provided for us to actually work towards continuous improvement. Evaluating student data to make adjustments in instruction is critical to the success of a school district. Time is always a barrier though...