In July 2010, the Arkansas Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC Assessment program. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) then created a strategic plan and a timeline for the implementation of the standards. The new standards were implemented in Arkansas K-2 classrooms this past school year, 2011-12. During this current school year, 2012-13, the standards are being implemented in grades 3-8

Ritter, Gary W.

Rose, Caleb P.

English

ScholarWorks@UARK

University of Arkansas, FayettevilleScholarWorks@UARKPolicy Briefs Office for Education Policy8-22-2012Common Core State Standards in ArkansasCaleb P. RoseUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleGary W. RitterUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/oepbriefPart of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Education LawCommons, and the Education Policy CommonsThis Brief is brought to you for free and open access by the Office for Education Policy at ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion inPolicy Briefs by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu.Recommended CitationRose, Caleb P. and Ritter, Gary W., "Common Core State Standards in Arkansas" (2012). Policy Briefs. 49.http://scholarworks.uark.edu/oepbrief/49  Common Core State Standards in Arkansas  This Brief  Background P.1 What are the Common Core State  Standards? P.2 Arkansas’ Background P.2   Common Core hits Arkansas P.2 What’s new and different for Arkansas? P.3 How is Arkansas preparing for the CCSS? P.3 August 2012: Where is Arkansas today? P.3 Conclusion P.4 Additional Resources P.4 Conclusion P.4 Office for Education Policy  Vol. 9 Issue 6 August  2012   Summary Points  Between 2010 and 2011, Arkansas and 44 other states adopted the  Common Core State Stand-ards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathe-matics.  Arkansas is implementing the CCSS over several years. In 2011-12, K-2 im-plemented the CCSS. In 2012-13, grades 3-8 will be implementing the CCSS, and in 2013-14, grades 9-12 will be implementing the new standards.  The Arkansas Department of Education has developed a strategic plan to assist in teacher and curriculum de-velopment.   Arkansas is also in the pro-cess of adopting a new computer-based assessment module, PARCC, which is scheduled to be fully im-plemented during the 2014-15 school year. In July 2010, the Arkansas Board of Educa-tion adopted the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC Assessment pro-gram. The Arkansas Department of Educa-tion (ADE) then created a strategic plan and a timeline for the implementation of the standards. The new standards were imple-mented in Arkansas K-2 classrooms this past school year, 2011-12. During this cur-rent school year, 2012-13, the standards are being implemented in grades 3-8.  Background  National Standards Debate In the early 1980s, a landmark report, A Nation at Risk, prompted much debate in K-12 education. It was the first of its kind to boldly state that US K-12 students were academically lagging behind their peers in other countries. Since this time, the drive to be internationally competitive has increased the dialogue surrounding the achievement of US students. As a part of this dialogue, the idea of national standards surfaced, as many of the highest achieving countries have national educational standards.  State Standards During the Clinton administration, the Im-proving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA), a reauthorization of the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), encouraged each state to establish perfor-mance and content standards and aligned assessments. States, including Arkansas, began to develop their accountability plans and state standards. During this reauthoriza-tion, the call for national standards grew more robust. Nevertheless, the opposition to national standards focused to a great extent on local control, and in the end, state  control of standards won out.  In 2002, under George W. Bush, Congress reauthorized the ESEA as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In this reauthorization, standards-based initiatives and accountabil-ity measures, through assessments, were even further emphasized. Again, however, sates were in charge of implementing their own standards and assessments, and national standards were not under consideration. During this time, as states set their own standards, assessments, and levels for profi-cient performance, proponents for a national standards argued that comparisons of “proficiency” were not meaningful because the “proficiency cutoffs” varied state by state. These advocates of national standards claimed that state standards could also lead to states lowering their own bar of proficien-cy so that students more student would pass and the state would meet the requirements of the federal laws (this is unofficially re-ferred to as the ‘Race to the Bottom’). On the other hand, opponents continued to ar-gue that movements toward national stand-ards represented an infringement on local control. (Read more on the debate surround-ing national standards here). Renewed Push for National Standards In 2009, under President Barack Obama, a federally funded competitive contest, Race to the Top, spurred education reform. (Read more about Race to the Top here). In order to be competitive for the grants, states could voluntarily adopt a set of national standards.    www.uark.edu/ua/oep/  On the Record   "It's a historic oppor-tunity for us all to come together and collective-ly develop and adopt a core set of academic standards. We will en-sure our students will be college and career ready and prepared to compete in the global economy." - Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe  “As Arkansas moves forward in the imple-mentation of the CCSS we realize and acknowledge that im-plementing these stand-ards will, in the long run, require a revolu-tion in our P–20 educa-tional system.”  - Arkansas ESEA  Flexibility Request  In conjunction with Race to the Top, in 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) was established. The National Gover-nors Association Center (NGA) for Best Prac-tices and the Council of Chief State School Of-ficers (CCSSO) coordinated the initiative; how-ever, a broad spectrum of educators and other experts participated. Their goal was to create high-quality, rigorous learning standards for all grade-levels so that students would be “college and career ready.” The end result was the crea-tion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS): K-12 English language arts (ELA) standards, and K-Algebra II mathematics stand-ards.  What are the Common Core State Standards? The CCSS are student learning expectations that set the bar for the knowledge and skills that must be taught. While critics argue that such national standards might be too prescriptive, advocates maintain that the standards represent learning goals that allow education freedom as to how teachers should teach students.  The ELA Standards are split into three sec-tions: K-5, Grades 6-12 ELA, and Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects. Each ELA section is framed by “College and Career Readiness An-chor Standards” that shape the standards of that section. The K-5 standards are cross-disciplinary, such that history/social studies and science knowledge and skills are embedded in the ELA standards. For K-8, the ELA standards are grade specific; and for grades 9-12, the ELA standards are set in two-year bands to al-low flexibility in high school course design.  The math standards are grade-specific for K-8, and then content-specific for high school. They do not dictate the exact order of math courses in high school, but they do prepare stu-dents for the opportunity to take Algebra I by 8th grade. The math standards are framed by the “Standards for Mathematical Practice,” which is a set of eight standards that lay out expecta-tions for math proficiency.  The Common Core State Standards were re-leased to the public in June 2010. Since then, 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 terri-tories have fully adopted the Standards. The US Department of Education encouraged many states to adopt the Standards by August 1, 2010, as it was one of the primary focuses of the competitive federal grant, Race to the Top. Common Core Assessments With the new Common Core State Stand-ards, new assessments had to be created to align to the new standards. Two major groups have developed models of tests: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for college and Careers (PARCC) and SMART-ER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) (read more about these assessments here). Both models of tests will test stu-dents multiple times throughout the year on computers, which is a change for most states. States have adopted one of these as-sessment groups in conjunction with the CCSS. Arkansas’ Background  Previously, Arkansas public schools fol-lowed the Arkansas Curriculum Frame-works. The early versions of the frame-works, called course content guides, were created in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the con-tent guides shifted to become curricular frameworks. The State Board of Education phased in these frameworks and required that they be revised every six years. In 1999, the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, As-sessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) was passed by the state legisla-ture. This act required public school stu-dents to take a standardized assessment aligned with the state standards in core aca-demic standards in certain grades. Since then, in accordance with NCLB, grades 3-8 have been tested by the ACTAAP bench-mark test in reading, math, and science (only in 5th and 7th); and students in grades 9-12 have been tested in certain content are-as through End-of-Course exams.  Common Core hits Arkansas In July 2010, the Arkansas Board of Educa-tion adopted the Common Core State Stand-ards and the PARCC Assessment program. Due to the connection to Race to the Top funds, states had could adopt “College and Career Ready” Standards “as-is” in entirety, or adopt the standards and add up to 15 per-cent of their own standards. States who adopted the Common Core were more likely to receive grant money from the Race to the Top initiative. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) did an analysis of the Common Core Standards and decided to adopt the standards in full without adding new standards.    www.uark.edu/ua/oep/ In the CCSS analysis, the ADE compared the CCSS to the Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks in math and ELA to assess how the new standards matched to the old ones. The ADE found that there is a 96 percent match of English language arts standards and a 95 percent match in mathematics.1 These matches, however, are not specific to grade-level in ELA and math; many standards, especially certain math skills, have been shifted to an earlier grade level(s).1 The ADE has report-ed that the alignment of CCSS to the previous Arkansas state standards is much closer at the K-8 levels than the 9-12 levels. After the adoption, the ADE created a timeline for the imple-mentation of the CCSS and the PARCC Assessment. Table 1. Timeline for Implementation of the AR CCSS & PARCC *During the 2013-2014 school year, the ADE will pilot the new PARCC assessment in some districts across the state. What’s new and different for Arkansas? According to the authors, the CCSS will better prepare stu-dents to be competitive in the 21st century, as the standards are more rigorous than many states’ previous standards. As previ-ously discussed, when the ADE matched the CCSS to the old Arkansas frameworks, there were number of shifts of stand-ards to earlier grades in ELA and math.  In ELA, there is an earlier and greater emphasis on non-fiction texts. Across all grade-levels, there will be a focus on interacting with more complex texts and more emphasis on vocabulary with the aim to promote higher-order thinking. Additionally, in writing, persuasive writing is introduced at earlier grade levels so that students in grades seven and higher can become proficient in argumentative writing.  In mathematics, there are fewer standards across all grade-levels, and many see these standards as more rigorous than the previous Arkansas math standards. A number of math stand-ards have shifted grade-levels in order to cluster standards so that they can be taught more in-depth and students can gain mastery of the standards.   Years  CCSS  Implementation Assessments Used 2011-12 K – 2 3 – 8: Benchmark 9 – 12: EOC 2012-13 Grades 3 – 8 3 – 8: Benchmark 9 – 12: EOC 2013-14 Grades 9 – 12 3 – 8: Benchmark 9 – 12: EOC *PARCC pilot 2014-15   PARCC K – 12 1Arkansas ESEA Flexibility Request 2http://arkansased.org/about/schools/coops.html How is Arkansas preparing for the CCSS? In October 2011, the ADE released the Arkansas Common Core Strategic Plan. This plan outlines the preparations and timelines for implementation of the standards and the assess-ments.  Challenges The ADE has recognized the major challenges in implement-ing the CCSS:1    Training teachers to teach the new standards  Educating parents and communities in the purpose and content of the standards  Measuring student performance and ensuring success Phases of Implementation In response to these challenges, the ADE highlighted four main phases of CCSS implementation:1    1. Building awareness of the CCSS, including informing educators about the rationale for CCSS 2. Analyzing the standards to identify, understand, and im-plement them 3. Preparing for curriculum development and adoption, as well as utilizing and evaluating assessments  4. Evaluating the implementation and making revisions to the strategic plan when necessary Examples of Action Plans  In October 2011, there was an Arkansas CCSS Summit, where many educators met to gain understanding of the CCSS and gain the skills and knowledge necessary to im-plement the standards.   A statewide community conversation was held in March 2012 to help community members understand the CCSS and its implementation.   Some school districts around the state, such as the Ben-ton and Fayetteville School Districts, have already hosted informational sessions to inform their community about the CCSS.  Teacher Preparation  ADE has created a guide for professional development planning to assist districts in the implementation of the CCSS.   The ADE created a curriculum crosswalk that linked the previous Arkansas Standards to the new Common Core standards.  At the high school level, the ADE has created focus groups that worked on revised courses and the profes-sional development for these newly revised courses. The ADE specified that these courses are not new; but they have been revised to meet the new standards. The ADE will be working to develop teachers in these courses.  Most districts have created a CCSS leader and team to prepare for the CCSS transition in their district.   For More Infor-mation about this Policy Brief and  other education  issues in Arkansas contact us:  O ff i ce  fo r  E du c a t i on  P o l i c y  2 11  G r ad  E d  B u i l d in g  F ay e t t e v i l l e ,  A R 7 2 70 1  P h on e :  ( 4 7 9)  5 75 - 37 7 3  F ax:  ( 47 9)  5 7 5 -3 19 6  oe p @ u ar k .e d u   Visit Our Blog:  www. o f f i ce f ore dpol ic y . com  OEP DIRECTOR: Gary W. Ritter. PhD RESEARCH  ASSISTANTS: Caleb P. Rose Michael L. Crouch DATA MANAGER Charlene A. Reid GRADUATE  FELLOWS: Jennifer W. Ash Sarah M. Burks  August 2012: Where is Arkansas in the Process Today? The Common Core State Standards were im-plemented this past year, 2011-12, in K-2 classrooms across the state. Throughout this process, districts have been working to devel-op their teachers under the new standards. With that, districts have been faced with mak-ing many curriculum decisions. The ADE regulates that new textbooks be adopted every 6 years, and 2010-11 and 2011-12 were text-book adoption years for ELA and math. The ADE had to provide leniency in this adoption timeline due to the new standards; so many districts have opted to wait another year be-fore adopting textbooks for ELA and math. In the process of adopting, the ADE and districts are having to evaluate which ones will best prepare their students under the new stand-ards. Additionally, districts are making deci-sions as to how to best prepare students under the new standards while operating with the previous Arkansas assessments. Students will still be tested on the ACTAAP and End of Course exams through 2013-14. Presently, districts are at different levels in their dissemination of information about the Common Core and in their teacher prepara-tion. As stated, some districts have held par-ents’ nights to inform parents of the changes with the CCSS. Other districts have dispersed no information about the CCSS to their com-munities. Larger districts have information on their websites. All the Education Service Co-operatives have information and resources on their websites. In regard to teacher prepara-tion, some districts have required many hours for all K-12 teachers to train in the CCSS; while other districts are training their teachers as the implementations roll out. Many dis-tricts are working with their local coopera-tives to train teachers and other organizations, such as The Learning Institute (TLI). In August 2012, PARCC released the first set of item and task prototypes that provide examples for what the new assessments will look like. PARCC has also released a proposal: PARCC College-Ready Determination Policy in English and Mathematics & Policy and General Content Claims for PARCC Performance Levels. This proposal is out for public comment currently. For grades 3-8, it proposes five levels that will classi-fy students based on their assessments. It also proposes five levels of performance that will be used to make college-ready determination for high school students. PARCC is still working on creating a system that will assess students’ career readiness.  Conclusion  As Common Core State Standards have just been implemented in grades K-2 the past year, there are no statewide student achievement results. As the implementation continues, however, there will be results to come to assess the CCSS and the implementation of the CCSS. As districts continue with the implementation of the stand-ards, we recognize that it is crucial to focus on teacher and curriculum development. While there are similarities in the CCSS and the previous standards, there are also many differences and many shifts of standards to earlier grades in cer-tain areas. Therefore, it is important that teachers understand these changes and shifts, so that they can best educate students.  As the implementation continues, it is important to ask questions. How well are teachers pre-pared? Is professional development aligned to the new standards in a way that truly is prepar-ing teachers? How informed are parents and communities about the CCSS and the changes? How are students adapting to the changes? Is student achievement increasing with these new standards? These questions will certainly lead to further questions and hopefully more effective instruction for our state’s students.  Additional Resources in Arkansas  The ADE has created a website hub with information about the CCSS for teachers and par-ents; this website has many resources for teachers and parents to understand the changes in CCSS: http://www.commoncorearkansas.org/   This ADE website includes the CCSS Arkansas Strategic Plan:  http://ideas.aetn.org/commoncore   This ADE Wiki homepage specifically for districts and educators to gather resources about teaching the new standards: http://ccssarkansas.pbworks.com   Many of the Education Service Cooperatives have CCSS resources and PD sessions for teachers: http://www.arkansased.org/contact-us/education-service-cooperatives  www.uark.edu/ua/oep/ ARY . RITTER. PHD ALEB P. ROSE ICHAE  L. CROUCH HARLENE A. REID ENNIFER W. ASH ARAH M. BURKS 

Common Core State Standards in Arkansas

UARK (University of Arkansas )

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Policy Briefs Office for Education Policy 8-22-2012 Common Core State Standards in Arkansas Caleb P. Rose University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Gary W. Ritter University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/oepbrief  Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Education Law Commons, and the Education Policy Commons Citation Rose, C. P., & Ritter, G. W. (2012). Common Core State Standards in Arkansas. Policy Briefs. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/oepbrief/49 This Brief is brought to you for free and open access by the Office for Education Policy at ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Policy Briefs by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu.   Common Core State Standards in Arkansas  This Brief  Background P.1 What are the Common Core State  Standards? P.2 Arkansas’ Background P.2   Common Core hits Arkansas P.2 What’s new and different for Arkansas? P.3 How is Arkansas preparing for the CCSS? P.3 August 2012: Where is Arkansas today? P.3 Conclusion P.4 Additional Resources P.4 Conclusion P.4 Office for Education Policy  Vol. 9 Issue 6 August  2012   Summary Points  Between 2010 and 2011, Arkansas and 44 other states adopted the  Common Core State Stand-ards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathe-matics.  Arkansas is implementing the CCSS over several years. In 2011-12, K-2 im-plemented the CCSS. In 2012-13, grades 3-8 will be implementing the CCSS, and in 2013-14, grades 9-12 will be implementing the new standards.  The Arkansas Department of Education has developed a strategic plan to assist in teacher and curriculum de-velopment.   Arkansas is also in the pro-cess of adopting a new computer-based assessment module, PARCC, which is scheduled to be fully im-plemented during the 2014-15 school year. In July 2010, the Arkansas Board of Educa-tion adopted the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC Assessment pro-gram. The Arkansas Department of Educa-tion (ADE) then created a strategic plan and a timeline for the implementation of the standards. The new standards were imple-mented in Arkansas K-2 classrooms this past school year, 2011-12. During this cur-rent school year, 2012-13, the standards are being implemented in grades 3-8.  Background  National Standards Debate In the early 1980s, a landmark report, A Nation at Risk, prompted much debate in K-12 education. It was the first of its kind to boldly state that US K-12 students were academically lagging behind their peers in other countries. Since this time, the drive to be internationally competitive has increased the dialogue surrounding the achievement of US students. As a part of this dialogue, the idea of national standards surfaced, as many of the highest achieving countries have national educational standards.  State Standards During the Clinton administration, the Im-proving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA), a reauthorization of the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), encouraged each state to establish perfor-mance and content standards and aligned assessments. States, including Arkansas, began to develop their accountability plans and state standards. During this reauthoriza-tion, the call for national standards grew more robust. Nevertheless, the opposition to national standards focused to a great extent on local control, and in the end, state  control of standards won out.  In 2002, under George W. Bush, Congress reauthorized the ESEA as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In this reauthorization, standards-based initiatives and accountabil-ity measures, through assessments, were even further emphasized. Again, however, sates were in charge of implementing their own standards and assessments, and national standards were not under consideration. During this time, as states set their own standards, assessments, and levels for profi-cient performance, proponents for a national standards argued that comparisons of “proficiency” were not meaningful because the “proficiency cutoffs” varied state by state. These advocates of national standards claimed that state standards could also lead to states lowering their own bar of proficien-cy so that students more student would pass and the state would meet the requirements of the federal laws (this is unofficially re-ferred to as the ‘Race to the Bottom’). On the other hand, opponents continued to ar-gue that movements toward national stand-ards represented an infringement on local control. (Read more on the debate surround-ing national standards here). Renewed Push for National Standards In 2009, under President Barack Obama, a federally funded competitive contest, Race to the Top, spurred education reform. (Read more about Race to the Top here). In order to be competitive for the grants, states could voluntarily adopt a set of national standards.    www.uark.edu/ua/oep/  On the Record   "It's a historic oppor-tunity for us all to come together and collective-ly develop and adopt a core set of academic standards. We will en-sure our students will be college and career ready and prepared to compete in the global economy." - Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe  “As Arkansas moves forward in the imple-mentation of the CCSS we realize and acknowledge that im-plementing these stand-ards will, in the long run, require a revolu-tion in our P–20 educa-tional system.”  - Arkansas ESEA  Flexibility Request  In conjunction with Race to the Top, in 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) was established. The National Gover-nors Association Center (NGA) for Best Prac-tices and the Council of Chief State School Of-ficers (CCSSO) coordinated the initiative; how-ever, a broad spectrum of educators and other experts participated. Their goal was to create high-quality, rigorous learning standards for all grade-levels so that students would be “college and career ready.” The end result was the crea-tion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS): K-12 English language arts (ELA) standards, and K-Algebra II mathematics stand-ards.  What are the Common Core State Standards? The CCSS are student learning expectations that set the bar for the knowledge and skills that must be taught. While critics argue that such national standards might be too prescriptive, advocates maintain that the standards represent learning goals that allow education freedom as to how teachers should teach students.  The ELA Standards are split into three sec-tions: K-5, Grades 6-12 ELA, and Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects. Each ELA section is framed by “College and Career Readiness An-chor Standards” that shape the standards of that section. The K-5 standards are cross-disciplinary, such that history/social studies and science knowledge and skills are embedded in the ELA standards. For K-8, the ELA standards are grade specific; and for grades 9-12, the ELA standards are set in two-year bands to al-low flexibility in high school course design.  The math standards are grade-specific for K-8, and then content-specific for high school. They do not dictate the exact order of math courses in high school, but they do prepare stu-dents for the opportunity to take Algebra I by 8th grade. The math standards are framed by the “Standards for Mathematical Practice,” which is a set of eight standards that lay out expecta-tions for math proficiency.  The Common Core State Standards were re-leased to the public in June 2010. Since then, 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 terri-tories have fully adopted the Standards. The US Department of Education encouraged many states to adopt the Standards by August 1, 2010, as it was one of the primary focuses of the competitive federal grant, Race to the Top. Common Core Assessments With the new Common Core State Stand-ards, new assessments had to be created to align to the new standards. Two major groups have developed models of tests: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for college and Careers (PARCC) and SMART-ER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) (read more about these assessments here). Both models of tests will test stu-dents multiple times throughout the year on computers, which is a change for most states. States have adopted one of these as-sessment groups in conjunction with the CCSS. Arkansas’ Background  Previously, Arkansas public schools fol-lowed the Arkansas Curriculum Frame-works. The early versions of the frame-works, called course content guides, were created in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the con-tent guides shifted to become curricular frameworks. The State Board of Education phased in these frameworks and required that they be revised every six years. In 1999, the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, As-sessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) was passed by the state legisla-ture. This act required public school stu-dents to take a standardized assessment aligned with the state standards in core aca-demic standards in certain grades. Since then, in accordance with NCLB, grades 3-8 have been tested by the ACTAAP bench-mark test in reading, math, and science (only in 5th and 7th); and students in grades 9-12 have been tested in certain content are-as through End-of-Course exams.  Common Core hits Arkansas In July 2010, the Arkansas Board of Educa-tion adopted the Common Core State Stand-ards and the PARCC Assessment program. Due to the connection to Race to the Top funds, states had could adopt “College and Career Ready” Standards “as-is” in entirety, or adopt the standards and add up to 15 per-cent of their own standards. States who adopted the Common Core were more likely to receive grant money from the Race to the Top initiative. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) did an analysis of the Common Core Standards and decided to adopt the standards in full without adding new standards.    www.uark.edu/ua/oep/ In the CCSS analysis, the ADE compared the CCSS to the Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks in math and ELA to assess how the new standards matched to the old ones. The ADE found that there is a 96 percent match of English language arts standards and a 95 percent match in mathematics.1 These matches, however, are not specific to grade-level in ELA and math; many standards, especially certain math skills, have been shifted to an earlier grade level(s).1 The ADE has report-ed that the alignment of CCSS to the previous Arkansas state standards is much closer at the K-8 levels than the 9-12 levels. After the adoption, the ADE created a timeline for the imple-mentation of the CCSS and the PARCC Assessment. Table 1. Timeline for Implementation of the AR CCSS & PARCC *During the 2013-2014 school year, the ADE will pilot the new PARCC assessment in some districts across the state. What’s new and different for Arkansas? According to the authors, the CCSS will better prepare stu-dents to be competitive in the 21st century, as the standards are more rigorous than many states’ previous standards. As previ-ously discussed, when the ADE matched the CCSS to the old Arkansas frameworks, there were number of shifts of stand-ards to earlier grades in ELA and math.  In ELA, there is an earlier and greater emphasis on non-fiction texts. Across all grade-levels, there will be a focus on interacting with more complex texts and more emphasis on vocabulary with the aim to promote higher-order thinking. Additionally, in writing, persuasive writing is introduced at earlier grade levels so that students in grades seven and higher can become proficient in argumentative writing.  In mathematics, there are fewer standards across all grade-levels, and many see these standards as more rigorous than the previous Arkansas math standards. A number of math stand-ards have shifted grade-levels in order to cluster standards so that they can be taught more in-depth and students can gain mastery of the standards.   Years  CCSS  Implementation Assessments Used 2011-12 K – 2 3 – 8: Benchmark 9 – 12: EOC 2012-13 Grades 3 – 8 3 – 8: Benchmark 9 – 12: EOC 2013-14 Grades 9 – 12 3 – 8: Benchmark 9 – 12: EOC *PARCC pilot 2014-15   PARCC K – 12 1Arkansas ESEA Flexibility Request 2http://arkansased.org/about/schools/coops.html How is Arkansas preparing for the CCSS? In October 2011, the ADE released the Arkansas Common Core Strategic Plan. This plan outlines the preparations and timelines for implementation of the standards and the assess-ments.  Challenges The ADE has recognized the major challenges in implement-ing the CCSS:1    Training teachers to teach the new standards  Educating parents and communities in the purpose and content of the standards  Measuring student performance and ensuring success Phases of Implementation In response to these challenges, the ADE highlighted four main phases of CCSS implementation:1    1. Building awareness of the CCSS, including informing educators about the rationale for CCSS 2. Analyzing the standards to identify, understand, and im-plement them 3. Preparing for curriculum development and adoption, as well as utilizing and evaluating assessments  4. Evaluating the implementation and making revisions to the strategic plan when necessary Examples of Action Plans  In October 2011, there was an Arkansas CCSS Summit, where many educators met to gain understanding of the CCSS and gain the skills and knowledge necessary to im-plement the standards.   A statewide community conversation was held in March 2012 to help community members understand the CCSS and its implementation.   Some school districts around the state, such as the Ben-ton and Fayetteville School Districts, have already hosted informational sessions to inform their community about the CCSS.  Teacher Preparation  ADE has created a guide for professional development planning to assist districts in the implementation of the CCSS.   The ADE created a curriculum crosswalk that linked the previous Arkansas Standards to the new Common Core standards.  At the high school level, the ADE has created focus groups that worked on revised courses and the profes-sional development for these newly revised courses. The ADE specified that these courses are not new; but they have been revised to meet the new standards. The ADE will be working to develop teachers in these courses.  Most districts have created a CCSS leader and team to prepare for the CCSS transition in their district.   For More Infor-mation about this Policy Brief and  other education  issues in Arkansas contact us:  O ff i ce  fo r  E du c a t i on  P o l i c y  2 11  G r ad  E d  B u i l d in g  F ay e t t e v i l l e ,  A R 7 2 70 1  P h on e :  ( 4 7 9)  5 75 - 37 7 3  F ax:  ( 47 9)  5 7 5 -3 19 6  oe p @ u ar k .e d u   Visit Our Blog:  www. o f f i ce f ore dpol ic y . com  OEP DIRECTOR: Gary W. Ritter. PhD RESEARCH  ASSISTANTS: Caleb P. Rose Michael L. Crouch DATA MANAGER Charlene A. Reid GRADUATE  FELLOWS: Jennifer W. Ash Sarah M. Burks  August 2012: Where is Arkansas in the Process Today? The Common Core State Standards were im-plemented this past year, 2011-12, in K-2 classrooms across the state. Throughout this process, districts have been working to devel-op their teachers under the new standards. With that, districts have been faced with mak-ing many curriculum decisions. The ADE regulates that new textbooks be adopted every 6 years, and 2010-11 and 2011-12 were text-book adoption years for ELA and math. The ADE had to provide leniency in this adoption timeline due to the new standards; so many districts have opted to wait another year be-fore adopting textbooks for ELA and math. In the process of adopting, the ADE and districts are having to evaluate which ones will best prepare their students under the new stand-ards. Additionally, districts are making deci-sions as to how to best prepare students under the new standards while operating with the previous Arkansas assessments. Students will still be tested on the ACTAAP and End of Course exams through 2013-14. Presently, districts are at different levels in their dissemination of information about the Common Core and in their teacher prepara-tion. As stated, some districts have held par-ents’ nights to inform parents of the changes with the CCSS. Other districts have dispersed no information about the CCSS to their com-munities. Larger districts have information on their websites. All the Education Service Co-operatives have information and resources on their websites. In regard to teacher prepara-tion, some districts have required many hours for all K-12 teachers to train in the CCSS; while other districts are training their teachers as the implementations roll out. Many dis-tricts are working with their local coopera-tives to train teachers and other organizations, such as The Learning Institute (TLI). In August 2012, PARCC released the first set of item and task prototypes that provide examples for what the new assessments will look like. PARCC has also released a proposal: PARCC College-Ready Determination Policy in English and Mathematics & Policy and General Content Claims for PARCC Performance Levels. This proposal is out for public comment currently. For grades 3-8, it proposes five levels that will classi-fy students based on their assessments. It also proposes five levels of performance that will be used to make college-ready determination for high school students. PARCC is still working on creating a system that will assess students’ career readiness.  Conclusion  As Common Core State Standards have just been implemented in grades K-2 the past year, there are no statewide student achievement results. As the implementation continues, however, there will be results to come to assess the CCSS and the implementation of the CCSS. As districts continue with the implementation of the stand-ards, we recognize that it is crucial to focus on teacher and curriculum development. While there are similarities in the CCSS and the previous standards, there are also many differences and many shifts of standards to earlier grades in cer-tain areas. Therefore, it is important that teachers understand these changes and shifts, so that they can best educate students.  As the implementation continues, it is important to ask questions. How well are teachers pre-pared? Is professional development aligned to the new standards in a way that truly is prepar-ing teachers? How informed are parents and communities about the CCSS and the changes? How are students adapting to the changes? Is student achievement increasing with these new standards? These questions will certainly lead to further questions and hopefully more effective instruction for our state’s students.  Additional Resources in Arkansas  The ADE has created a website hub with information about the CCSS for teachers and par-ents; this website has many resources for teachers and parents to understand the changes in CCSS: http://www.commoncorearkansas.org/   This ADE website includes the CCSS Arkansas Strategic Plan:  http://ideas.aetn.org/commoncore   This ADE Wiki homepage specifically for districts and educators to gather resources about teaching the new standards: http://ccssarkansas.pbworks.com   Many of the Education Service Cooperatives have CCSS resources and PD sessions for teachers: http://www.arkansased.org/contact-us/education-service-cooperatives  www.uark.edu/ua/oep/ ARY . RITTER. PHD ALEB P. ROSE ICHAE  L. CROUCH HARLENE A. REID ENNIFER W. ASH ARAH M. BURKS 

https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&amp;context=oepbrief

Common Core State Standards in Arkansas

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

ScholarWorks@UARK

UARK (University of Arkansas )