Leading and Learning in a Time of Change Sandra Alberti @salberti @achievethecore #CCSS.

Leading and Learning in a Time of Change

Sandra Alberti

@salberti@achievethecore#CCSS

PAGE 2

Let’s be clear about what we are doing

• This effort is about much more than implementing the next version of the standards: It is about preparing all students for success in college and careers.

– Standards based instruction in mathematics and ELA grounded in evidence for college and career readiness

– Focus and coherence

PAGE 3

Standards-Based Instruction

Clear expectations

Clear connection of classroom activities to expectations

Clear information on student progress toward meeting expectations

AKA assessment

PAGE 4

Effective leadership in this work

• Understand the work

• Effectively communicate about the work

• Support the work

PAGE 5

www.achievethecore.org

PAGE 6

PAGE 7

Understand the work

ELA/Literacy1. Regular practice with

complex text and its academic language

2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

3. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

Mathematics1. Focus strongly where the

Standards focus

2. Coherence: Think across grades, and link to major topics within grades

3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue with equal intensity: conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application

PAGE 8

Understand the work

What implications do the CCSS have on what we teach?

What implications do the CCSS have on how we teach?

How will you know?

PAGE 9

A Conversation about Common Core State Standards

Communicate – Enrolled, not told

Standards aligned vs. Standards based

Standards vs. Standardization

Standards vs. Curriculum

Not a ceiling, but a message about priority

Focus, not simplify the work

Based on evidence v. Researched

PAGE 10

Communicate

• PD Module for brief communication• Pinterest! Illustrated Shifts• Parent Guides

– PTA– Council of Great City Schools

“To ensure all students are prepared for success after graduation, the Common Core State Standards establish a set of clear, consistent guidelines for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level in math and English Language Arts. The standards have been adopted by 45 states.”

PAGE 11

Support the Work

• Instructional Practice– Coaching and Planning Guides– Lesson Planning Guides– Instructional Practice Guides– Teachingthecore.org

• Common Core Aligned Instructional and Assessment Materials– Toolkit for evaluating materials

• PD Resources– iTunes U Courses– PD Modules– Webinar Series: 3rd Tuesday of the month 7-8PM EST

PAGE 12

Powerful Tool for Instructional Advocacy:Knowledge and Practice Survey

http://achievethecore.org/page/1104/common-core-knowledge-and-practice-survey-detail-pg

PAGE 13

What is the Common Core Knowledge and Practice Survey?

• A tool for educators to reflect on their instructional practice and understanding of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

• Designed for use in a professional learning community (PLC) setting within a school, the survey is meant to– Spark conversation

– Help identify areas for growth

– Offer concrete ways for teams of teachers to continue to align their practice to the Shifts

• Available for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics

• Grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8, HS

PAGE 14

What was the Survey designed to do?

• Identify what teachers understand about the Shifts and what they do with that knowledge in their classrooms

• Support change at the local level – where change happens• Offer ways for educators to have a conversation and advocate

for their own professional learning• Provide an alternative or supplement to self-reported data

Sample self-reported data questions…

How do you feel about the Common Core implementation at your school?

How much high-quality PD have you received? My students are capable of doing Common Core-

aligned work. (Agree/Disagree) My textbooks are aligned. (Yes/No)

PAGE 15

How can – and can’t – the Survey be used?

IT CAN…• Provide aggregated data by subject, within or across grades• Illuminate areas of strength and need around understanding of the

Shifts• Prompt discussion and further inquiry• Inform targeted professional development plans

IT CANNOT…• Provide data about an individual to a coach• Serve as an input in teacher evaluation• Give psychometrically valid longitudinal data• Plan your next steps or otherwise read your mind

PAGE 16

How do you use it?

• Sample• Sample

Roles Responsibilities

Instructional Coach

• Creates an account in the survey portal (~ 5 minutes)• Builds projects; one per teacher group (min. 6 per group)• Sends survey links to teachers (outside of the portal)• Views aggregated data, discussion questions and

resources

Teacher• Take surveys (~30 minutes)• View individual report (also includes questions and

resources)

Together

• Review data to determine key areas for focus• Dig into discussion questions to narrow next steps• Choose appropriate resources• Measure progress

PAGE 17

Student Achievement Partners Core AdvocatesWhy Core Advocates? Unless teachers are the owners, these new standards will fail like all those before. But to make them owners, we must do more than invite a few token teachers to the next standards workshop. Teachers themselves must become the leaders when implementing the standards.  Those who have mastered the ideas and the content must mentor their peers. Those who are challenged must work with their colleagues; those who are indifferent must become engaged; those who are cynical must be won over. Teachers must shape both the standards and assessments as educational tools rather than data-gathering instruments.       

 – John Ewing, “Give the Standards Back to Teachers”

PAGE 18

Key Characteristics of Leading Organizations

Systems Thinking

Learning Organizations

Know – Really Know – the expectations

PAGE 19

When in doubt, go to the Standards!

PAGE 20

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Theodore Roosevelt

“A bell that cannot be un-rung”

Thank You!

Sandra [email protected]

www.achievethecore.org

Twitter: @salberti