What exactly is Common Core? The district administration put together a presentation earlier in 2014, in order to highlight the key points of Common Core and PARCC for parents and students. According to the presentation, Common Core is a set of standards, in language arts/literacy and mathematics, that were created by educators around the nation.
For mathematics, Common Core standards strive for the following goals: 1) Increased focus, coherence and clarity in learning and teaching, by emphasizing key topics at each grade level, promoting a coherent progression across grades, and organizing high school standards by conceptual categories; 2) Providing for procedural fluency and understanding of concepts and skills; and 3) Promoting educational rigor through mathematical proficiencies that foster reasoning and understanding across school subjects and disciplines.
Moreover, Common Core shifts the focus of instruction in language arts and literacy in the following ways: 1) requiring the reading and analysis of a balance of literature and informational texts; 2) focusing on text complexity; 3) emphasizing argument, informative/ explanatory writing, and research, 4) developing better speaking and listening skills; and 5) imposing literacy standards for history, science and technical subjects as well as language arts classes.
In its presentation, the district explains that while Common Core standards are critical, the curriculum shift is just the first step. The PARCC testing, which offers “Common assessments [that are] aligned to the Common Core [standards] will help ensure the new standards reach every classroom.”
There are several priorities that are expected to be addressed by the PARCC testing, including those relating to students, teachers, and the curriculum. For instance, the PARCC testing is designed to determine whether students are college and career ready, as well as to measure the full range of student performance, including the performance of high and low performing students. PARCC is also expected to assess the full range of the Common Core standards, and to allow for the incorporation of innovative instructional approaches throughout the system. Finally, PARCC results will be used to provide data to inform instructional interventions, professional development and accountability of teachers and programs.
For example, PARCC will help the district ensure that, in language arts and literacy, students are able to “read sufficiently complex texts independently; write effectively to sources; and build and present knowledge through research.” Likewise, in math, the students will be expected to “solve problems; reason mathematically; model real world problems; and have fluency with mathematics.”
Finally, notes the district, another goal of PARCC is to ensure the use of 21st century technology-based assessments. In other words, the PARCC testing will all be done on computers, ideally to better engage students in the assessment process; reduce paperwork, increase security, reduce the need for shipping and storage of test booklets and results; make scoring more efficient; and allow for timely reports of students performance throughout the academic year.
For more information, the full presentation can be found at www.west-windsor-plainsboro.k12.nj.us . In addition, the district will be holding information sessions for parents in advance of the start of PARCC testing in March.
