Presentation given by Eric Sweet, Leslie Yolen and Liz Hood at Teaching the Hudson Valley's 2013 Summer Institute, "Placed-Based Learning & Common Core"

1. EngageNY.org
Teaching the Hudson Valley:
Uncommon Approaches to the
Common Core
August 1st, 2013

2. For every 100 ninth graders…
65 graduate from high school
37 enter college
24 are still enrolled in sophomore year
12 graduate with a degree in six years
Why does this matter?
Because it’s what our students need
Conley, David. 2012, “The Complexities of College and Career
Readiness.” https://epiconline.org/files/pdf/07102012_Keene_NH.pdf

3. … and only 6 get a good job after
graduation
EngageNY.org 3
Conley, David. 2012, “The Complexities of College and Career
Readiness.” https://epiconline.org/files/pdf/07102012_Keene_NH.pdf

4. EngageNY.org 4
Our Common Purpose and Resolve
* 2007 cohort, four-year outcomes through June
Source: NYSED Office of Information and Reporting Services
New York State Graduation Rates*
74%
85%
58% 58%
35%
48%
12%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
All White Black Hispanic
Student Subgroup
GraduationRate
Graduation Rate
ELA/Math Aspirational Performance
Measure (APM)

5. 5
Regents Reform Agenda
A Strategic Response to the Program Challenges
College and
Career Ready
Students
Highly Effective
School Leaders
Highly Effective
Teachers
Implementing Common Core
standards and developing curriculum
and assessments aligned to these
standards to prepare students for
success in college and the workplace
Building instructional data systems
that measure student success and
inform teachers and principals how
they can improve their practice in real
time
Recruiting, developing, retaining, and
rewarding effective teachers and
principals
Turning around the lowest-achieving
schools

6. These Standards are not
intended to be new names
for old ways of doing
business. They are a call
to take the next step. … It
is time to recognize that
standards are not just
promises to our children,
but promises we intend to
keep.
CCSSM, p. 5
EngageNY.org

7. 7
6 Shifts in ELA/Literacy
Balancing Informational and Literary Text
Building Knowledge in the Disciplines
Staircase of Complexity
Text-based Answers
Writing from Sources
Academic Vocabulary
7
Instructional Shifts Demanded by the Core
EngageNY.org

8. ELA/Literacy Shift 1:
Balancing Informational and Literary Text
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Build content knowledge
Learn about the world through
reading
Apply strategies
Balance informational & literary
text
Scaffold for informational texts
Teach “through” and “with”
informational texts
8EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 1

9. ELA/Literacy Shift 2:
Knowledge in the Disciplines
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Build content knowledge through
text
Handle primary source
documents
Find evidence
Shift identity: “I teach reading.”
Stop referring and summarizing
and start reading
Slow down the history and
science classroom
9EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 2

10. ELA/Literacy Shift 3: Staircase of
Complexity
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Re-read
Read material at own level to enjoy
Tolerate frustration
More complex texts at every grade level
Give students less to read, let them re-
read
More time on more complex texts
Provide scaffolding & strategies
Engage with texts w/ other adults
10EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 3

11. ELA/Literacy Shift 4:
Text Based Answers
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Find evidence to support their argument
Form own judgments and become scholars
Conducting reading as a close reading of the text
Engage with the author and his/her choices
Facilitate evidence based conversations about
text
Plan and conduct rich conversations
Keep students in the text
Identify questions that are text-dependent, worth
asking/exploring, deliver richly
Spend much more time preparing for instruction
by reading deeply.
11EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 4

12. ELA/Literacy Shift 5:
Writing from Sources
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Generate informational texts
Make arguments using evidence
Organize for persuasion
Compare multiple sources
Spending much less time on personal
narratives
Present opportunities to write from multiple
sources
Give opportunities to analyze,
synthesize ideas
Develop students’ voice so that they can
argue a point with evidence
Give permission to reach and articulate
their own conclusions about what they
read
12EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 5

13. ELA/Literacy Shift 6:
Academic Vocabulary
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Use high octane words across content
areas
Build “language of power” database
Develop students’ ability to use and
access words
Sequence texts so that students
encounter high-octane words within a
particular domain over and over in
increasingly complex contexts
Be strategic about the new vocab words
Work with words students will use
frequently
Teach fewer words more deeply
13EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 6

14. Mathematics Shift 1: Focus
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Spend more time on fewer
concepts
Excise content from the
curriculum
Focus instructional time on
priority concepts
Give students the gift of time
14EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 1

15. Mathematics Shift 2:
Coherence
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Build on knowledge from year to
year, in a coherent learning progression
Connect the threads of math focus
areas across grade levels
Connect to the way content was
taught the year before and the years
after
Focus on priority progressions
15EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 2

16. Mathematics Shift 3:
Rigor - Fluency
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Spend time practicing, with
intensity, skills (in high volume)
Push students to know basic skills at
a greater level of fluency
Focus on the listed fluencies by
grade level
Uses high quality problem sets, in
high volume
16
16
EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 3

17. Mathematics Shift 4:
Rigor - Deep Understanding
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Show mastery of material at a deep
level
Articulate mathematical reasoning
Demonstrate deep conceptual
understanding of priority concepts
Create opportunities for students to
understand the “answer” from a
variety of access points
Ensure that EVERY student GETS
IT before moving on
Get smarter in concepts being taught
17
EngageNY org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 4

18. Mathematics Shift 5:
Rigor- Application
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Apply math in other content
areas and situations, as relevant
Choose the right math concept to
solve a problem when not
necessarily prompted to do so
Apply math including areas
where its not directly required (i.e.
in science)
Provide students with real world
experiences and opportunities to
apply what they have learned
18EngageNY.org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 5

19. Mathematics Shift 6:
Rigor - Dual Intensity
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
Practice math skills with an intensity
that results in fluency
Practice math concepts with an
intensity that forces application in
novel situations
Find the dual intensity between
understanding and practice within
different periods or different units
Be ambitious in demands for fluency
and practice, as well as the range of
application
19
EngageNY org
Uncommon Approaches to Shift 6

20. Common Core State Standards
for ELA & Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
-10 Reading Standards
- 10 Writing Standards

21. Common Core State Standards for
Literacy in Technical Subjects
Purpose for CC
Literacy Standards in
Technical Subjects
Every teacher is responsible to support and
instruct students in reading informational
text within each of their
own content areas.

22. Common Core State Standards for
Literacy in Technical Subjects
Common Core Literacy Standards
are used in coordination with each
content area’s NYS Learning
Standards

23. Steps for Implementing Common
Core Literacy Standards
10 Reading &
10 Writing
Standards for
Technical Subjects
•Identify existing connections
•Modify lessons to incorporate
•literacy standards

24. The National Arts Standards Revision
http://nccas.wikispaces.com/
The revised National Arts Standards will:
• extend PK -12
• be grade-by-grade from PK-8 in each arts discipline and include:
Media Arts as a discreet fifth arts discipline.
Cornerstone Assessment models: authentic performance assessments
organized to include all aspects of the learning and instructional process, including
student work samples.
The first draft Prek-8 was released in spring for public review and comment with
PreK - 12 draft standards due to be released in Jan.
Final revised arts standards will be issued in March, 2014.

25. 25
6 Shifts in ELA/Literacy
Balancing Informational and Literary Text
Building Knowledge in the Disciplines
Staircase of Complexity
Text-based Answers
Writing from Sources
Academic Vocabulary
25
Instructional Shifts Demanded by the Core
EngageNY.org

26. 26 26
EngageNY.org
Six Shifts in ELA/Literacy & Math:
What Do They Means in the Visual Art Classroom?
The Shifts in the visual arts are understood
with the following premise:
Visual Art is a form of communication. The
primary definition of “Text” in visual art is
imagery in its most inclusive form (the art itself).
Just as in other forms of communication, “Text”
in art is layered, metaphoric, symbolic, and
open to interpretation. Therefore, when referring
to imagery as “Text” in Visual Art, we will use
the term, Art (text). When referring to “Text” as
the written word, we will use the term, “Text.”

27. 27EngageNY.org

28. Shift
4
Text-
Based
Answers
Students have rich and rigorous conversations, which are
dependent on a common text. Teachers insist that classroom
experiences stay deeply connected to the text on the page and that
students develop habits for making evidentiary arguments both in
conversation, as well as in writing to assess comprehension of a
text.
Students will analyze Art (text), including their own
art, using a variety of perspectives: Historic,
Contemporary, Pluralism, etc.
Teachers will guide students to write, discuss, and
make art in response to primary and secondary
sources: Art (text) and text.
Shift
5
Writing
from
Sources
Writing needs to emphasize use of evidence to inform or make an
argument rather than the personal narrative and other forms of
decontextualized prompts. While the narrative still has an important
role, students develop skills through written arguments that respond
to the ideas, events, facts, and arguments presented in the texts
they read.
Students will discover connections to ideas about
the world by creating Art (text), writing, and
discussing primary and secondary sources.
Shift
6
Academic
Vocabular
y
Students constantly build the vocabulary they need to access grade
level complex texts. By focusing strategically on comprehension of
pivotal and commonly found words (such as “discourse,”
“generation,” “theory,” and “principled”) and less on esoteric literary
terms (such as “onomatopoeia” or “homonym”), teachers constantly
build students’ ability to access more complex texts across the
content areas.
Students will learn and employ the language and
vocabulary of the Visual Art domain in response to
Art (text) and text. Language in the Visual Arts is
not fixed—it changes along with the developments
in Visual Art.
Six Shifts in ELA/Literacy What it Means in Visual Art

30. Shift 4 Deep
Understandi
ng
Teachers teach more than “how to get the answer” and instead
support students’ ability to access concepts from a number of
perspectives so that students are able to see math as more than a
set of mnemonics or discrete procedures. Students demonstrate
deep conceptual understanding of core math concepts by applying
them to new situations. As well as writing and speaking about their
understanding.
Teachers will guide students’ inquiry into how
mathematical thinking is used to convey ideas
about the world when aesthetics are combined with
function (e.g. illusion of depth, gradation of value,
weight, and structure).
Students will demonstrate understanding by
synthesizing information to create Art (text).
Students will engage in mathematical thinking to
analyze and discuss visual perception in Art (text),
(e.g. Cubism, Pointillism, peripheral vision, optical,
and medial color systems).
Shift 5 Applications Students are expected to use math and choose the appropriate
concept for application even when they are not prompted to do so.
Teachers provide opportunities at all grade levels for students to
apply math concepts in “real world” situations. Teachers in content
areas outside of math, particularly science, ensure that students are
using math – at all grade levels – to make meaning of and access
content.
Students will employ mathematical thinking and
skills in creating Art (text) when utilizing media and
materials in the creation of meaningful and
personally significant Art (text), (e.g. digital imaging,
time-based media, and traditional media).
Shift 6 Dual
Intensity
Students are practicing and understanding. There is more than a
balance between these two things in the classroom – both are
occurring with intensity. Teachers create opportunities for students
to participate in “drills” and make use of those skills through
extended application of math concepts. The amount of time and
energy spent practicing and understanding learning environments is
driven by the specific mathematical concept and therefore, varies
throughout the given school year.
Students will practice mathematical skills and
thinking on practical and conceptual levels within
the Visual Art Curriculum—a natural extension and
application of concepts introduced in the math
classroom.
Teachers will provide opportunities for exercises in
technique, analysis of the creative process, as well
as the evaluation of the products (synthesis) of the
creative process, (portfolio).
Six Shifts in Math What It Means in Visual Art

31. NYS Curriculum
• Exemplary, Comprehensive, Optional, Free
• High Quality, Rigorous, Deeply Aligned to CCSS
• Addresses Needs of Students Performing Above &
Below Grade Level, Students with Disabilities, English
Language Learners
• Includes Performance Tasks and other assessments
which measure student growth – daily, weekly, at the
end of each unit & module
• Ensures Diversity of Voices & Perspectives in Text
Selection
• Contains notes for teachers, templates, handouts,
homework, problem sets, overviews, etc
• Creative Commons License Approach
31EngageNY.org

32. P-12 Mathematics
32
NYSED is
partnering with
Common Core, Inc
to develop high
quality, rigorous,
and aligned
materials in
P-12 mathematics
that progress across
the school year and
across the grades.
EngageNY.org

33. 33
Curriculum Modules: P-2 ELA
NYSED is partnering with
Core Knowledge
Phased implementation:
Year 1:
• Listening and Learning
modules
• Ongoing professional
development with
educators
Year 2:
• Student skills
development modules
• Ongoing professional
development with
educators

34. 34
Curriculum Modules ELA
34
We are partnering
NYSED is partnering with Expeditionary Learning to develop comprehensive materials
in Grades 3-5 that progress across the school year and across the grades.
NYSED is partnering with Public Consulting Group to develop comprehensive materials
in Grades 6-12 that are aligned with those in Grades 3-5.

35. Curricular Support: 6-12 ELA
35
NYSED has partnered with
Odell Education to publish a
series of exemplary units for
use in secondary English
language arts classrooms.
These units model at each
grade level: text selection,
increasing complexity, supports
for evidence-based
conversations, and rigorous
writing.
Comprehensive curricular
modules are coming by July!
EngageNY.org

36. EngageNY
36
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37. Table Talk: What Will it
Take?
• What does this look like in classrooms?
At home? At museums and outdoor sites?
• What are your challenges with implementing
the Common Core, and how can your
colleagues in schools and cultural institutions
help?
• What Uncommon Approaches do you think
you will adopt?
37EngageNY.org

38. Thank You!
Liz Hood, Director, Office of Educational
Television & Public Broadcasting
lhood@mail.nysed.gov
Leslie Yolen, Associate in Arts
lyolen@mail.nysed.gov
Erik Sweet, English Language Arts Associate
esweet@mail.nysed.gov