Understanding The Common Core
Initiative and PARCC Assessments
Welcome to Rocky Hill Middle School’s
Information Sessions
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46 States + DC Have Adopted the
Common Core State Standards
*Minnesota adopted the CCSS in ELA/literacy only
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Key Advances of the Common Core
MATHEMATICS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ARTS/LITERACY
Focus, coherence and clarity: emphasis on
key topics at each grade level and coherent
progression across grades
Balance of literature and informational
texts; focus on text complexity
Balance between procedural fluency and
understanding of concepts and skills
Emphasis on argument, informative/
explanatory writing, and research
Mathematical practices:
Application, reasoning, modeling,
Literacy standards for history, science and
technical subjects
ANCHORED IN COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS
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Race to the Top Assessment Program
Competition
• $350 million of Race to the Top Fund set aside for awards to consortia of
states to design and develop common K-12 assessment systems aligned to
common, college- and career-ready standards
• The competition asked consortia to design assessment systems that meet
the dual needs of accountability and instructional improvement
• In September 2010, the U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to:
– Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for
College and Careers (PARCC)
– Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)
• The winning consortia have four years to develop assessments systems, and
states participating in either consortium will administer new assessments
statewide by 2014-2015
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Timeline
Montgomery County Public Schools is in the last 3 years of phasing all
Mathematics courses into the common core standards.
These course are regarded as Curriculum 2.0 (C2.0):
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Who’s Responsible?
In 2008–2009, a representative group of teachers, parents, principals,
community members, and central office staff gathered for 18 months to
review the MCPS mathematics program.
Their work resulted in a number of recommendations regarding:
• Curriculum
• Acceleration
• system achievement targets
• and professional development.
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And…
Several of the key recommendations included
adopting the then-in-development Common Core
State Standards (CCSS), reviewing the impact of the
CCSS on the MCPS math program and system targets,
expanding professional development in mathematics,
and eliminating grade-level skipping of mathematics
content, while continuing practices that challenge
students who consistently demonstrate proficiency.
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Tonight’s Sessions:
Discourse in Math Class
Sequencing Concepts
 8 Standards of Mathematical Practices
 Transitions
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