Advanced Mathematics for All?

Posted on April 28, 2013 by coreeducation

Mathematics education in the U.S. has always been a complicated issue: on the one hand, there is a general consensus that mathematics is a fundamental skill that all students should possess, yet there is also the common – and false – perception that not all students are “good at math” and that it is unfair to expect all kids to take advanced mathematics in order to graduate.

Michael Cohen, president of Achieve, told the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that “people worry that if you make kids take more rigorous math, then you’ll lose them.” But he also asked: “What kind of technical training doesn’t require some kind of advanced mathematics?” Studies have found that students who complete Algebra II in high school nearly double their chances of earning four-year college degrees. “It’s not like people made up the idea, ‘Let’s all take Algebra II for the fun of it.’ It was looking at what people do after they leave high school, what kind of education and training programs you want to prepare them for.”

It was, in part, the disconnect between what is expected of some kids compared to what should be expected of all kids that led Achieve to first create the Math Works resources back in 2008. The Math Works resources – a series of Mathematics at Work brochures, fact sheets and a white paper – make the case that advanced mathematics is important for all students, no matter what their plans are after high school. Students who take advanced math have better access to college in all forms, are more likely to earn a degree, earn higher salaries and are better prepared for the workplace.

Since their release in 2008, the Mathematics at Work brochures have been requested and shared with educators and district personnel from over 200 schools and districts across 48 states and DC, reaching well over 10,000 K-12 students, as well as with nearly 50 institutions of higher education and over 20 state-level agencies. The materials have been used with learners at all ages, from middle school students to adult education students, reinforcing the importance of mathematics for ALL students, regardless of age, zip code or background.

This week, Achieve released updated and revised brochures that now make the connection between middle skills jobs and the mathematics in the Common Core State Standards. The Mathematics at Work brochures present case studies drawn from leading industries nationwide, such as information technology, advanced manufacturing and healthcare. They provide concrete examples of how advanced math is applied in these jobs and identify the prerequisite mathematical skills needed to successfully enter these jobs. In healthcare, for example, radiographers rely on geometry, spatial relations, measurement, inverse laws and problem solving to produce CT images that will allow radiologists to properly diagnosis injury and illness. Importantly, all of the jobs highlighted in the brochures are accessible to high school graduates without a four-year college degree.

Achieve also updated the seven Math Works fact sheets exploring issues such as equity, career readiness, international competitiveness and the fourth year of mathematics.

To view the updated Math Works resources, please visit: http://www.achieve.org/Math-Works

For information on proposed changes to math standards in Texas:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/No-Algebra-II-Great-for-students-terrible-for-4359906.php

Should student essays be graded by computers?

Posted on April 24, 2013 by coreeducation

The issue of whether and how much computers should be responsible for student grading has been around for decades, but the recent advent of MOOCs and the upcoming implementation of Common Core tests has brought the issue to the forefront yet again. One MOOC, edX, has recently developed software, which they will make available as freeware, that will grade student essays. edX argues that their new software is not only adequate, but that it will increase student learning because it will provide instant feedback on student essays, which will then encourage those students to rework their essays for re-submission.

Others, such as MIT researcher Les Perelman, are highly critical of computerized grading. Perelman has successfully written and tested several nonsensical essays which have been graded highly by some of the testing software. Those who agree with Perelman have recently founded a group, known as Professionals Against Machine Scoring Of Student Essays In High-Stakes Assessment, to protest computerized scoring of essays.

Most germane to K-12 education, however, is the news that Smarter Balanced and PARCC are both experimenting with computerized grading of essays in their tests leading up to Common Core implementation next school year:

Joe Willhoft, the executive director of SBAC, told Catherine Gewertz of Education Week in an email that written responses from students participating in the ongoing pilot tests will be hand-scored by the consortium’s contractor, with guidance from SBAC staff. The contractor will then use the scored responses to try to “train” artificial-intelligence software to score the papers.

Scoring, both human and artificial, will focus on three aspects of students’ writing, Willhoft explained: 1) overall organization and style (things like how well it’s written, whether the sentences are complete and coherent, and the voice and style appropriate) 2) conventions of the language, and 3) students’ use of evidence (whether the essay refers appropriately to the reading materials on which it is based). Based on what is known about computer scoring, he said, Smarter Balanced officials are more confident that it will succeed with conventions, organization, and style than with use of evidence.

They’ll divide the papers into two chunks: a training set and a validity set. Programmers will use the training set to teach the computerized scoring engine to replicate the human scores. They’ll use the validity set to see if the software actually replicates the human scores. With that feedback in hand, SBAC will get its arms around the reliability of computer scoring.

Educators, students, and parents may be willing to accept computerized grading for Common Core only if it is tested rigorously and proven to be legitimate, but MOOCs seem ready to move ahead with computerized grading right away.

For more information, please visit these two websites: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/science/new-test-for-computers-grading-essays-at-college-level.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2013/04/should_common_tests_use_computers_to_score_writing.html

April Issue Brief: Common Core Implementation

Posted on April 21, 2013 by coreeducation

Forty-five states, four territories, the District of Columbia and DoDEA are currently transitioning to full implementation of the Common Core State Standards. While some groups are further along than others, educators across the country are seeking high quality resources to facilitate this process.

In this month’s issue brief, we explore resources and information designed to support Common Core implementation. We’re interested in hearing about the resources, websites and tools that you have found to be most useful during this transition. Please respond to our call for commentary. We’d love to hear from you!

To check out this month’s newsletter and access resources on school leadership, please follow this link: http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a4ae2b1b129b9f8a29d50b80f&id=82f07ccbb1&e=19cfa03b4e

To ensure you do not miss future issues, we encourage you to subscribe to the monthly newsletter by following this link: http://tinyurl.com/byje6b9

Department of Education Letter Could Put Cracks in the Credit Hour

Posted on April 18, 2013 by coreeducation

In an update to the story that this blog has been tracking for some time (see our two past blogs about this subject here and here), the US Department of Education has given its strongest confirmation yet that it is willing to embrace a model of judging educational progress and mastery that transcends the credit hour.

Higher Ed Watch recently released an article about the Department of Education letter that confirms the shift:

The U.S. Department of Education took a critical step forward today in moving towards a more flexible and innovative financial aid system-one that privileges (and pays for) learning, rather than time. In a letter… the Education Department let the world know not only that schools can award federal financial aid based on competency rather than seat time, but that the Department wants them to do so.

The shift by the Education Department toward accepting direct assessment began back in 2005 when Congress “created an alternative path allowing federal financial aid to be awarded to a program that ‘in lieu of credit hours or clock hours as the measure of student learning, utilizes direct assessment of student learning.’” Congress did this in large part to allow Western Governor’s University (WGU), which wanted to follow a model without the credit hour, to receive federal financial aid.

Ironically, WGU ended up opting to work with the Education Department to translate their model into a comparable credit hour system, but another university, Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), applied last fall to receive federal financial aid on the direct assessment model.

The letter from the Education Department not only confirms that SNHU’s petition will be granted, but also encourages more universities to follow the same model, despite making reference to what Amy Laitinen of Higher Ed Watch calls “potential, limitations, and unknowns” of the direct assessment model.

For more information, please visit the following website: http://higheredwatch.newamerica.net/blogposts/2013/new_department_of_education_letter_could_put_cracks_in_the_credit_hour-80998

And for a direct link to the Education Department’s letter, please follow this link: http://higheredwatch.newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/files/articles/DCL_DA_3.19.2013.pdf

Amplify Insight to Create Digital Library of Common Core Teaching Materials

Posted on April 9, 2013 by coreeducation

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) announced the award of a contract to develop a Digital Library of formative assessment practices and professional learning resources for educators. Amplify Insight, formerly known as Wireless Generation, will work with Consortium member states and teachers to create professional development materials and instructional resources aligned to the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced assessment system.

Formative assessment is a critical component of the Smarter Balanced assessment system, which also includes a year-end summative assessment and interim assessments that can be used to monitor student progress throughout the year. Through an online Digital Library, teachers will have access to classroom-based, formative assessment strategies and practices that enhance day-to-day instruction. Also included will be resources to interpret and make use of the data and reports from the Smarter Balanced summative and interim assessments.

“Smarter Balanced is committed to providing resources and tools to help teachers become more effective in their real-time, classroom-based assessment activities to measure student acquisition of the Common Core State Standards,” said Joe Willhoft, Ph.D., executive director of Smarter Balanced. “Just as important, we believe that educators must be involved from the beginning to identify and vet formative assessment resources to ensure they meet the needs of classroom teachers.”

Amplify Insight will develop the technology platform for the Digital Library, inventory and create professional learning resources, develop instructional modules, and oversee educator engagement. In collaboration with member states, the contractor will convene state leadership teams charged with recruiting an average of a hundred educators from each Governing State to form state networks of educators. These educator teams will provide feedback on the development of formative assessment resources and professional learning tools created by the Consortium and submit additional resources for classroom use. The development of the formative assessment and professional learning resources will be guided by quality criteria established by an advisory panel with expertise in formative assessment practices, adult online professional learning, and quality instruction incorporating universal design for a range of diverse learners.

Amplify Insight was awarded this contract, valued at approximately $12.5 million, following a competitive procurement process overseen by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. An evaluation committee composed of representatives from Smarter Balanced Governing States reviewed and scored the proposals.

More information on the Consortium’s procurement process-including the formative assessment RFP and the winning proposal-is available at: http://www.k12.wa.us/SMARTER/Jobs-Contracts.aspx

DREAM: The Free Cost-modeling Tool for School Districts

Posted on April 7, 2013 by coreeducation

In the current economic climate, with budget cuts a necessity and many states seeing their education budget battles going to state supreme courts, states and districts need help weathering the storm. DREAM hopes to help states and districts do just that with a “new way to explore school budgets.”

DREAM was created by Education Resource Strategies (ERS), “a non-profit organization dedicated to helping urban school systems organize talent, time and money to create great schools at scale.”

DREAM employs algorithms which make it easy for school leaders to consider changes to their budgets, and see what those changes would actually mean.

According to the DREAM website, “You can do less with less, or you can change your district’s cost model by rethinking how schools and systems are structured. DREAM allows you to adjust key cost levers in your district and instantly see how these changes impact your budget and other critical measures.”

“DREAM uses the most recent available (2009-10 data in most areas, 2008-09 financial data) NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) to generate a cost model for your district. This model is represented as a series of ‘sliders,’ each representing a key cost lever. By adjusting the sliders, you can drive changes in cost and other important measures of quality and efficiency such as time or class size.”

You can give it a try at the DREAM website: http://www.erstools.org/dream

Big Names Spar over Common Core

Posted on April 4, 2013 by coreeducation

Two big names in American Education, Diane Ravitch and Marc Tucker, have recently written several articles outlining their opinions on the imminent implementation of the Common Core standards. Ravitch, known as more of an advocate of local educational agency and as an opponent of standardization, kicked things off with a blog post in which she described, after considering the issue for some time, how she “cannot support the Common Core State Standards.”

Read her initial blog post here: http://dianeravitch.net/2013/02/26/why-i-cannot-support-the-common-core-standards/

Ravitch’s main issue with the Common Core, with its emphases on nationwide curriculum and standardized testing, is that it promises to bring changes that it has no way of knowing it can bring. In her words, “We are a nation of guinea pigs, almost all trying an unknown new program at the same time.”

Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, regular blogger at Education Week, and long-time advocate of rigorous curriculum backed up by standardized testing, fired back.

Here is the link to his first response: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/top_performers/2013/03/diane_ravitch_wrong_on_the_common_core.html

He concludes the response as follows: “The United States has been far behind the other industrialized countries in developing serious standards for student achievement. The attempt to develop state-by-state standards failed ignominiously. What we most need now is not cold feet, but high quality examinations, first-rate curriculum and instructional resources and high quality training for our teachers in the use of those standards, instructional resources and assessment systems. It will take years of determined effort to develop all that infrastructure and years more to implement it effectively. And there is no time to waste.”

Tucker followed his initial post with two more, which can be found here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/top_performers/2013/03/further_response_to_diane_ravitch_on_common_core.html

And here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/top_performers/2013/03/ravitch_and_krashen_last_round_in_common_core_debate.html

Ravitch’s final response can be found here: http://dianeravitch.net/2013/03/29/my-non-debate-with-marc-tucker-my-response/

In short, Ravitch’s main complaint with Common Core and those of Marc Tucker’s persuasion is that they put the cart before the horse when they insist that standards will provide the impetus for changes that will help students from lower income backgrounds. Tucker’s main complaint with Ravitch and those opposed to national standards is that they are obstructionist and not actually taking steps, such as the Common Core, to attempt to educate American children more towards international standards. Regardless of the debate, Common Core will be implemented in the 2014-2015 school year in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

PARCC moves forward toward sustainable Common Core Implementation

Posted on March 26, 2013 by coreeducation

As the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) becomes an official 501(c)(3) to become more sustainable, they are also continuing to roll out preparation tools for their expected 2014-15 school year testing.

PARCC and Smarter Balanced are the two education consortia charged with creating assessments to measure student attainment of Common Core standards. There is a lot of pressure on these two organizations to create tests that align well with new curriculum, transcend the traditional paper-based multiple choice tests, and gauge student readiness for 21^st century challenges.

About their shift to becoming an official non-profit, the chair of the PARCC Governing Board, Mitchell Chester said, “I am pleased with the progress the consortium continues to make in developing PARCC, the next generation assessment system that is aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The creation of a non-profit entity establishes a state-led governance structure to oversee the administration and sustainability of these new assessments.”

Launching the non-profit is the first step in the process to ensuring the PARCC assessment system can be sustained in the long term and beyond the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top Assessment grant period which ends in September 2014.

“This is an important step to ensure a seamless transition from the development stage of the PARCC next generation assessments to their implementation,” said New Jersey Education Commissioner and PARCC Governing Board member Chris Cerf. “This non-profit will ensure that states continue to be at the forefront of new, more meaningful Common Core-aligned assessments.”

Meanwhile, in their day to day work of preparing the tests to evaluate the new Common Core standards, PARCC recently released a Capacity Planning Tool to help schools and districts be more prepared to navigate the new tests.

Following is more information from a press release about the new tools for education professionals:

Preparing for this type of assessment, one that is computer-based and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), necessitates changes in how schools prepare. The PARCC Assessment Administration Capacity Planning Tool provides schools and districts with a calculator that supports local technology budgeting and decision-making in preparation for computer-based administration of the tests in the 2014-2015 school year. This is a tool that administrators and school leaders have requested from the consortium to help them plan for a successful test administration in two years.

PARCC is also releasing guidance that provides schools and districts with more information about the design of the PARCC assessments in English language arts/literacy and mathematics, as well as the number of testing sessions and the approximate time it will take students to complete the assessments.

Unlike many current state assessments, the PARCC assessments will provide information on the full range of knowledge and skills needed to be career- and college-ready or on track toward that goal. And, they will measure the skills and knowledge of students working significantly beyond or behind their grade level. These improvements from many current tests will help teachers guide instruction and give more information to students and their parents.

Other advances in the PARCC system not available with many current state tests:
–A college- and career-ready determination that two- and four-year colleges and universities in PARCC states can use to place students into entry-level, credit-bearing courses.
–Separate reading and writing scores from the English language arts/literacy assessment.
–A measure of student growth.
–Results returned within weeks of the assessment.

For more information, please see http://www.parcconline.org/assessment-administration-guidance

Resources to Support Common Core Implementation

Posted on March 25, 2013 by coreeducation

The Common Core State Standards have been accepted by 46 states and the District of Columbia and are scheduled for full implementation in the 2014-15 school year. They are already being piloted in multiple locations, which this blog has written about previously. Teachers have also recently spoken up in several surveys and have described their willingness to do their part to implement the new standards, but they have asked for help. Below are links to new resources from the Council of the Great City Schools, the National Association of State Boards of Education and Hope Street Group that have been designed to support Common Core implementation.

One of the largest issues surrounding the upcoming implementation of the Common Core Math and ELA/Literacy Standards, with similar initiatives taking place in science and social studies, is not the role of teachers; it is how much parents and other community members are being prepared for the changes that will be taking place. For those with a stake in education, such as parents, who might not have the time or access to delve into the details of these new curriculum plans on their own, the first of the following resources should prove to be extremely valuable.

The first resource comes from the Council of the Great City Schools:

The Council of the Great City Schools published Parent Roadmaps to the Common Core Standards in English language arts (in both English and Spanish) and mathematics (in both English and Spanish) for the high school grades. It has also developed other resources over the last several months to help with the implementation of the Common Core Standards: two 30-second Public Service Announcements (one in English and one in Spanish) that tells the public what the Common Core Standards are; two three-minute videos (one in English and one in Spanish) that explains the Common Core in a slightly longer form (particularly good for presentations to community and parent groups); a 45-minute professional development video for central office and school-based staff and teachers on the shifts in the Common Core in English language arts and literacy; a 45-minute professional development video for central office and school-based staff and teachers on the shifts in the Common Core in mathematics; and resources for adapting basal texts to the rigor of the Common Core in English language arts and literacy. In addition, the Council of the Great City Schools, working with Institute for Mathematics and Education and Achieve, has developed draft mathematics progressions documents for teaching across grade levels.

The second resource, more geared towards educators, comes from the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE):

NASBE has been a leader in the effort to assist states as they adopt and implement the Common Core State Standards, and it will apply that experience to help state board members understand the development, history, and future of the Next Generation Science Standards. The development of the science standards – now in their second draft, with a final version expected in March – is being spearheaded by Achieve in conjunction with the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“State education policymakers, like many others, are working hard to answer the national call for greater emphasis on science, and the Next Generation Science Standards will provide them with a critical tool to do this,” said NASBE Deputy Executive Director Brad Hull. “But the existence of the NGSS is just a first step. The state board members who must adopt them need targeted resources and opportunities to discuss the meaning, content, and policy implications of the standards in order to effectively do their jobs. NASBE, in partnership with other education stakeholders, including those involved in the NGSS development as well as other state-level policy organizations, is uniquely positioned to provide this assistance to state boards.”

The NGSS are focused on four areas: physical science; life science; earth and space science; and engineering, technology, and practical applications of science. The standards, which were built upon on a vision for science education established by the Framework for K-12 Science Education, published by the National Academies’ National Research Council in 2011, seek to move science instruction from an inch-deep, mile-wide approach to one that is centered on deeper learning and helping students grasp concepts that stretch across traditional scientific disciplines.

During the year, NASBE will host regional symposia at which state board of education members can develop adoption plans and conduct policy audits to identify other policy areas affected by the NGSS, such as assessments, teacher professional learning, and educator licensure. In addition, NASBE staff will provide state board members with online and print resources, webinars, and toolkits – all with a special emphasis on communications – to help inform policymakers and other local, district, and state-level stakeholders.

The third resource is geared toward district level education professionals:

Hope Street Group and the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) have released a Common Core Playbook-Toolkit that both offers specific recommendations for state boards of education and highlights areas of potential concern that may require attention in coming months and years. This resource was created to provide additional support and guidance for state boards of education as they implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Among the recommendations, the Playbook-Toolkit suggests:

–State boards of education focus their role in CCSS implementation on ensuring that supportive board policies are in place and that state board policies which impede or complicate CCSS implementation are eliminated or changed;

–State boards should work to communicate to the public and educators what CCSS implementation means and how they plan to support implementation, alignment of other key areas, and address the issues that arise as a result of implementation;

–To help with the transition, state boards should work with their departments to ensure that the state has an up-to-date technology plan and policy;

–State boards should consider teacher input in planning and decision-making for educators’ professional learning.

For more information, please visit the following websites:

Council of the Great City Schools Common Core Works – http://www.cgcs.org/Page/334

NASBE Common Core Standards Website – http://www.nasbe.org/project/common-core-state-standards-ccss/

Hope Street Group Common Core Playbook – http://playbook.hopestreetgroup.org/commoncore

Teachers and Common Core: An Ambivalent Relationship

Posted on March 20, 2013 by coreeducation

As Common Core implementation deadlines approach, new surveys suggest that teachers are open to using Common Core but may not be prepared to do so.

Three and a half years after the launch of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, schools nationwide continue working to implement the new standards in English/language arts and mathematics, which have been adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia. The move toward more uniform standards and expectations has often been described as a sea change in American education that could dramatically transform teaching and learning at all grade levels. School-based educators-especially teachers-will play a critical role in making the vision of common standards a reality in the classroom.

Yet, concerns about teacher readiness for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are raised by a new study from the EPE Research Center, the research arm of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week. The study, Findings from a National Survey of Teacher Perspectives on the Common Core, finds that just one in five teachers feels they are very prepared to teach the common standards to their students as a whole. Confidence levels drop by half when teachers were asked about their readiness to address the needs of particular student groups, including English language learners and students with disabilities. Still fewer teachers—just five percent—believe their students are ready to master the demands of the Common Core.

This study explores a range of issues crucial to the successful implementation of the new standards, including: awareness of the common core; information sources; the focus, format, and quality of training; teacher and school preparedness; the perceived impact of the CCSS; and areas where additional training and resources are needed. Support for the report was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which also underwrites coverage of deeper learning in Education Week.

Other major findings from the report:

Most teachers report some basic awareness of the common standards, although their level of familiarity is typically not deep.

Teachers most often get information about the CCSS from their schools’ administrators and their state departments of education.

Most teachers have received some professional development related to the CCSS, although it usually lasted only a few days or less.

Most often, training has focused on the English/language arts and mathematics standards and has taken place in seminars and other formal settings.

Few teachers feel their textbooks and curricular materials are very well aligned with the CCSS.

The majority of teachers believe that the quality of the CCSS is at least as high as that of their states’ prior standards.

Teachers also generally agree that the new common standards will have a positive impact on their instruction.

Another study, conducted by the consortium of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Scholastic, and the Harrison Group, found similarly mixed results. Primary Sources 2012: America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession features voices of teachers reflecting on the Common Core:

• “I’m ready for common standards, but I need adequate supplies and technology if I’m going to make them work for my students.” (Elementary teacher)

• “Let’s adopt the common core and stick with it for at least 10 years. How can we see progress if we keep changing our plans?” (High school teacher)

• “I don’t like the common core. Teachers need the freedom to teach children individually to build critical-thinking skills, creative problem-solving skills, and passionate interests.” (Middle school teacher)

To read Primary Sources: 2012 – America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession, visit: http://www.scholastic.com/primarysources/pdfs/Gates2012_full.pdf

To read Findings from a National Survey of Teacher Perspectives on the Common Core, visit: http://www.edweek.org/media/epe_survey_teacher_perspctives_common_core_2013.pdf

The "Core" of Education

Category Archives: School Reform & Leadership