Resources

 

Common Core "Building Dreams"

This video by Stand for Children provides parents with a clear two-minute overview of what the Common Core is, why it’s critical now and how it will prepare our kids for college and the jobs of today – and tomorrow.

 

Local and State Flexibility to Use Federal Funding for College and Career Ready Standards Implementation

CCSSO hosted a webinar exploring local and state flexibility in the use of federal funds for college and career ready standards. The webinar featured a presentation from Dr. Monique Chism, Director of Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs (SASA) for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Chism discussed flexibility states and districts have in using federal funding to implement college and career ready standards, ensuring that all students receive the necessary education to allow them to compete in the global economy.

 

Transition to High-Quality, College- and Career-Ready Assessments: Principles to Guide State Leadership and Federal Requirements

States across the nation are implementing comprehensive reforms to ensure that all students graduate with the knowledge and skills required for success in postsecondary education and the workforce. As part of this effort states will be transitioning to new, high-quality assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards (Common Core) or state College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards, including assessments developed by the PARCC and Smarter Balanced consortia. We must move forward in our efforts to ensure that every child receives a solid education. CCSSO specifically rejects a moratorium on accountability. At the same time, we must be thoughtful about how we evaluate teachers and use test results in school consequences. The purpose of this document is to present key principles that will guide state leadership in this assessment transition and to address several immediate state-federal issues in that regard.

 

Webcast: State Chiefs Discuss Implementing New Accountability Systems

Watch CCSSO's webcast of chiefs discussing state NCLB waiver implementation. Chris Cerf, Commissioner of Education for the New Jersey Department of Education, Terry Holliday, Commissioner of Education for the Kentucky Department of Education, and John King, Commissioner of Education for the New York Department of Education spoke about the new accountability systems in their states and implications of waivers on state & federal policies and practice. Andy Rotherham, co-founder and partner at Bellwether Education, moderated the conversation.

 

Improving Teaching and Learning Using SEC Data: Online Professional Development with CCSS

CCSSO has worked with a consortium of three states to develop an online professional development guide for educators on how to use CCSSO's Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) data in the transition to the Common Core State Standards. The online system is organized around five professional development questions that provide choices of purposes for examining SEC data for school-based professional learning teams. Each component of the site involves use of data to address key issues in Common Core Implementation, such as identifying needed shifts in instructional practices, how to monitor progress, identifying needs in low performing schools, and closing the opportunity gap for special education students. The online professional development guide is a key outcome of the Kansas EAG State Consortium project.

 

State Education Agency (SEA) Common Core Implementation - Progress and Capacity Rubric

CCSSO developed this progress and capacity rubric for state education agencies (SEAs) with support from the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. The rubric is a tool for SEAs to use to assess their progress on Common Core implementation and to identify areas of strength and improvement.