NORDONIA HILLS CITY SCHOOLS

Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development Report

Periodically, an update will be created covering aspects of instructional education. Please feel free to share your thoughts on how the newsletter can be improved to meet your particular needs.

February 2, 2013

SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM UPDATES

ODE needs input for the social studies model curricula The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) is soliciting input from the eld to add to the social studies model curricula. These include instructional strategies, ideas for diverse learners, Web resources, intraand inter-disciplinary connections and essential questions. To submit suggestions, go to the Ohios New Learning Standards: K-12 Social Studies website. Under the heading Model Curricula, click on the third bullet, Add Ideas to the Model Curriculum. The site includes the Social Studies Model Curriculum Resource Evaluation Tool. Emancipation and Human Rights in History is theme for NCHE conference The National Council for History Education (NCHE) is going to Richmond, Va. for the 2013 NCHE National Conference on March 21-23 2013. This three-day event will include: Enrichment excursions, including trips to Montpelier, Monticello, Colonial Williamsburg and more; The Friday Night at the Valentine event; More than 70 breakout sessions and poster sessions on the theme of the conference, Emancipation and Human Rights in History; Keynote sessions featuring Annette Gordon-Reed, Adam Goodheart and a taping of Back Story with the American History Guys. Join other educators in Richmond during the Civil War Sesquicentennial to examine not only the emancipation in the United States, but also human rights struggles throughout world history. To nd out more information, please click here or contact John Csepegi, Director of Conferences and Events at (240) 696-6612 or email at john@nche.net Ohio Youth in Government scheduled for April 11-13 The HI-Y Leadership Center will hold the annual Ohio Youth in Government program for high school students on April 11-13 in Columbus. Youth in Government provides high school students a foundation in democracy and responsible citizenship. Students learn by serving as legislators, Supreme Court justices, lobbyists, reporters or page delegates to the programs Model Legislature and Supreme Court. For more information, please visit the HI-Y website or email hiy@hi-y.org. Colonial Williamsburg has developed a variety of free lesson plans Colonial Williamsburg has developed a variety of free lesson plans for use in classrooms. Click here to access the lessons. America in Class offers online seminars The America in Class seminars focus on teaching with primary sources historical documents, literary texts, visual images and audio material. Emphasizing critical analysis and close reading, they address the skills of the Common Core State Standards while giving teachers the opportunity to deepen their content knowledge. Seminar texts are provided free online. The Center draws texts from a variety of sources, including America in Class primary sources and lessons, and attempts to select fresh material that will invigorate classroom instruction. The cost is $35.00 per seminar. Email Caryn Koplik, Assistant Director of Education Programs, for special pricing. Curriculum Update Continue on Page 2

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Social Studies Curriculum Update Continued

Online Seminars for history, literature and humanities teachers Join other educators for engaging, useful and convenient professional development seminars that offer new pedagogical approaches and free online resources. Led by distinguished scholars, these live, interactive seminars focus on teaching with primary sources historical documents, literary texts, visual images and audio material. Emphasizing critical analysis and close reading, they address the skills of the Common Core State Standards while giving teachers the opportunity to deepen their content knowledge. This season's schedule includes sessions on slavery in the Atlantic World, the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and consumer politics in the American Revolution. Register online and see all the current offerings. The 2013 Albert H. Small Student/ Teacher Institute announced National History Day announces an exciting and unique summer institute for teachers and students. In June 2013, 15 student/teacher teams will engage in a rigorous study of D-Day and World War II. Students and teachers will be immersed in lectures presented by leading World War II historians, participate in a scholarly study of the war memorials in the D.C. area and walk in the footsteps of history on the beaches of Normandy. Students will study about and make presentations on various aspects of the Normandy Campaign. The last day in Normandy will be a day of remembrance. The students will lay a wreath at the American Cemetery and present eulogies based on individual preinstitute research of a soldier who made the ultimate sacrice. Check out the website here for information on how to apply. Updates made to the K-8 Social Studies Standards and High School Course Syllabi Minor adjustments were made recently to the social studies K-8 Standards and the High School Course Syllabi documents. Pre-Kindergarten was removed from the K-8 document and the new title of the standards was added (Ohios New Learning Standards). The draft of Ohios Early Learning Content Standards covers Pre-Kindergarten. The June 2012 High School Course Syllabi document also was adjusted to reect the new name of the standards. Districts/schools should be using the following versions of the new standards. K-8 Standards Changes include the new title of the standards and removal of PreKindergarten. No changes were made in the K-8 content statements. High School Course Syllabi The June 2012 posting reects the addition of content statements in American History and American Government in response to Am. Sub. S.B. 165. The title of the new standards was updated. National History Day in Ohio National History Day in Ohio is a cocurricular program for students in Grades 4-5 and 6-12. Each year, students conduct research based on the annual theme to create historical papers, original performances, documentaries, exhibits and websites. The theme for 2013 is Turning Points in History, which opens up an array of topics for your students to explore. Click here for more information. C-SPAN Teacher Fellowship and Educators' Conference offers opportunities Considering professional development opportunities in 2013? C-SPAN is pleased to announce the dates of its next two Educator Conferences, as well as the opening of the application process of theTeacher Fellowship. C-SPANs annual Teacher Fellowship program invites three teachers from across the country to its ofces in Washington, DC. The Fellows will spend four weeks during summer 2013 collaborating with its Education department to develop new teaching materials using C-SPAN resources. Each Fellow receives an award valued at $7,000 which includes housing and travel expenses. Fellowship applicants should have high familiarity with C-SPANs programs and be able to demonstrate their successful integration of C-SPANs programming and lessons into their classrooms. The deadline for the 2013 Summer Fellowship Application is Friday, February 8, 2013. C-SPAN also hosts 30 teachers from across the country at each of its two Summer Educators' Conferences. During this day and a half long conference, participants learn about CSPAN and its online resources (including new programming and initiatives), as well as how to better integrate these materials into the classroom. Airfare to and from Washington, two nights hotel stay, and meals during the conference are all provided by C-SPAN. C-SPAN will host two Summer Educators' Conferences in 2013: Monday, July 8 - Tuesday, July 9 Thursday, July 11 - Friday, July 12 Applications for these conferences will be available in the new year. For additional information on both the Fellowship and Educators Conference, please visit theTeacher Opportunities page on the C-SPAN Classroom website.

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Social Studies Curriculum Update Continues

James Madison Foundation offers graduate fellowships The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation offers $24,000 James Madison Graduate Fellowships to individuals desiring to become outstanding secondary teachers on the American Constitution. Fellowship applicants compete only against other applicants from the states of their legal residence. Generally, one Fellowship per state is awarded each year. The application submission deadline is March 1, 2013, before 6 p.m. Eastern time. Details of the fellowship, as well as applications, are available at the Madison Foundations website. Got smart students! Encourage them to write about the future of money and win prizes! The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is offering high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to enter a creative writing contest Future World: How would you like to pay for that? The contest asks to explain in an essay, play, short story or poem what the Future World looks like to them. Is there cash, or are smart phones and Pay Pal the primary forms of payment for goods and services? What are the costs and benets they envision in Future World? As they craft their compositions, students must think about what economic concepts impact Future World and whether there are any unintended consequences. Submissions must be postmarked on or before Feb. 28, 2013. The winning students are awarded cash gift cards as prizes and the teachers who sponsor students receive gift bags. Please visit http:// www.clevelandfed.org/learning_center for more information. Resources Historical Simulations as Learning Creating historical simulations stimulates a high degree of classroom interaction while teaching students research and debate techniques on key historical concepts. http://suite101.com/article/historical-simulations-as-learning-a76204 Reading Like a Historian The Reading Like a Historian website is a product of Stanford Universitys History Education Group. The site contains 12 unit lesson plans on U.S. history that include primary sources for students to analyze. http://sheg.stanford.edu/?q=node/45 World History for Us All This site provides units, lesson plans and resources over the span of human history. http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/ Gilder Lehrman Institute offers 2013 Teacher Seminars Full-time K--12 history and English language arts teachers are invited to apply for the Gilder Lehrman Institute's renowned Teacher Seminars. Led by eminent historians and held at major educational and historical institutions, these one-week interdisciplinary seminars give educators the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of topics in American history and literature while they gain practical resources and strategies to bring these subjects to life in the classroom. This year, new coursework and focus will align seminar content with Common Core State Standards Seminars are academically rigorous and intellectually rich. Two new Online Teacher Seminars feature daily live lectures by lead scholars, virtual eld trips, and real-time discussion. Books, room, and board are included; teachers may commute if they prefer. Each seminar is limited to thirty participants who are selected through a competitive application process. Submission deadline is Feb. 15, 2013. Check out the seminar schedule and FAQs for more information and to learn about full and partial fellowships, as well as graduate credit. To apply click here.

Fourth Annual First Amendment Cartoon Contest for Students The Judiciary of California, Constitutional Rights Foundation, and the California State PTA is celebrating the Bill of Rights with the Fourth Annual First Amendment Cartoon Contest. It is open to high school, middle school, and elementary school students. Six winners will each receive a $50* gift card. In addition, up to ve entries will receive honorable mentions. Winners and honorable mentions will be announced on Law Day, May 1, 2013, and posted at http://www.courtsed.org. Deadline for submissions is March 15, 2013. For more information and the contest rules/entry form, go to the above website.

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Social Studies Curriculuim Update Continued

The Bill of Rights Institute announces its 2013 Founders Fellowship Program The Bill of Rights Institutes 2013 Founders Fellowship Program is now open for applications! This years them is Civil Liberty, Commerce and the Constitution. It consists of ve days of rigorous professional development in the Washington D.C., area, intendedto deepen teachers' understanding of and appreciation for the American Founding, and will focus specically on the intersection of civil and economic liberty in the Constitution. Teachers will participate in pedagogical sessions and lectures with a master teacher and two Constitutional scholars, as well as visit the historic homes and monuments of entrepreneurial Founders including George Washington. The program begins with required pre-conference readings which will be sent to participants in May. Eligibility All Social Studies teachers of grades 9-12. Applicants must reside and teach in the United States. Program Overview Lodging, transportation during the program, and most meals will be covered by the Institute. A $400 travel stipend will be provided at the conclusion of the program. *An additional $100 will be available upon completion of all post-program activities. Participants will be responsible for arranging their own transportation to and from the D.C. area. Application Requirements All applicants must complete the online application form. All applications must be submitted by 5:00 PM EST on March 26, 2013. For questions, please contact Laura Vlk at events@BillofRightsInstitute.org.Webinars and other extra help for students needing remedial assistance. Reduced costs for fee-based resources thanks to efciency in state bulk purchasing.

Thinkgate was selected through a competitive bid process and an innovative procurement partnership between the Ohio and Massachusetts education agencies. By pooling purchasing, the states received better prices. Ohios split of the development cost is only $138,367. An additional $1.7 million is being spent to implement the IIS in Ohio which includes connecting the IIS to other resources in Ohio. Under the contract, the Thinkgate IIS will be available to all Race to the Top (RttT) schools funded by ODE using the RttT grant for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years. All schools could then pay a per-student price that will be based upon how many districts ultimately adopt the system. Estimates indicate that the cost will be between $2.75 and $5 per student. Use of the Thinkgate system is voluntary. The new IIS is still being developed and tested but will be available to RttT school districts beginning next school year. Visit http://thinkgate.net/ohma/ to view video and learn more. Constitutional Academy Summer Program designed for students The Bill of Rights Institute's Constitutional Academy Summer Program invites outstanding students to apply. The Constitutional Academy is for the brightest students who want to learn from college professors and policy experts about how government, economics, and current events connect. Students who have just completed their sophomore, junior, or senior year of high school will spend July 15-20, 2013 digging into the Founding documents. Scholarships are available for students who qualify, and there is no need to ll out a separate application for the scholarship. Each student who is accepted will be automatically considered for scholarships. The application deadline is May 1, 2013, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. For questions, please email Academy@BillofRightsInstitute.org. The History Project (HP) at the University of California offers institute on the Arab Spring Roots of the Arab Spring: Understanding the Historical Context for the Arab Uprisings, an NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers will be held on the UC Davis campus from July 15 through August 2, 2013. A $2,700 stipend will help to offset travel and living expenses. Teachers will work closely with an interdisciplinary team of scholars and develop their own curriculum projects. Over the course of three weeks, Institute Director and historian Omnia El Shakry will lead NEH Summer Scholars in an investigation of the historical, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of the so-called Arab Spring, the revolutionary wave of protests and uprisings sweeping through the Arab World, which began with Tunisia in Dec.2010. The concept of an Arab Spring offers a unique prism through which to understand historical and contemporary forces shaping the modern Middle East. Participants will grapple with the historical signicance of the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria within the larger context of modern revolutions and uprisings against entrenched regimes. NEH Summer Scholars will leave the institute equipped with knowledge and resources for planning instruction and engaging students in discussions about democracy and the nature of civic participation at home and abroad. For more information click here, or email History Project Director Pamela Tindall at ptindall@ucdavis.edu. The History Project (HP) at the University of California offers institute on the impact of the Transcontinental Railroad The Transcontinental Railroad: Transforming California and the Nation, an NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop, will be held twice: June 23-28 and July 7-12, 2013 (applicants will indicate which week they prefer). A $1,200 stipend will help to offset travel and living expenses. Over the course of the six days, academic historians, museum professionals, and educational leaders associated with The History Project at UC Davis will lead NEH Summer Scholars on an investigation of the transcontinental railroad from its conceptual origins, through feats of labor and engineering, and on to its social, political, and economic impact during and after the Gilded Age. Historic Old Sacramento, a unique 28-acre National Historic Landmark District and State Historic Park located along the scenic Sacramento River, provides an incomparable backdrop for this workshop. Sessions will be held at the California State Railroad Museum, the Crocker Art Museum, and the Leland Stanford Mansion. Participants will also take two day trips: the rst, following the tracks of the rst transcontinental railroad into the Sierra; the second, to the San Francisco Bay Area with visits to Stanford University and the Chinese Historical Society of America. For more information click here, or email History Project Director Pamela Tindall at ptindall@ucdavis.edu.

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Grant for developing new English language proficiency assessment awarded

Ohio, in a consortium with 12 other states, has been awarded a federal Enhanced Assessment Grant (EAG) for $6.6 million to develop an English Language Prociency Assessment (ELPA). The new assessment eventually will replace the member states current ELPA (which in Ohio is the Ohio Test of English Language Acquisition). The consortium is titled ELPA 21, or English Language Prociency Assessment 21st Century. With Oregon as the lead state, ELPA 21s member states also include Arkansas, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia. The grant timeline states the new assessment is expected to be operational in school year 2016-2017. The grant requires the consortium to develop English language prociency standards before the development process of the ELPA may begin. All member states, including Ohio, have existing English language prociency standards, but they do not correspond to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) required by the grant. The ELPA 21 has begun the process of developing ELP standards that correspond to the CCSS, and has a target of December 2013 as the completion date. To aid in the development, California has given permission for the ELPA 21 to use its recently developed and adopted state English Language Development standards as a basis for the development of the new ELP standards. More details will be shared as they are made available. Please direct questions or comments to Paula Mahaley, Dan Fleck or Abdinur Mohamud in the Ofce of Curriculum and Assessment at (614) 466-0223. Writers sought for Fine Arts Model Curriculum development The ODE Ofce of Curriculum and Assessment is beginning the process of writing a Model Curriculum to enhance Ohios recently revised Fine Arts Learning Standards. ODE seeks K-12 educators in the visual and performing arts dance, drama/theatre, music and visual art to participate in a process to prepare model curriculum drafts in the four arts areas for additional feedback and public input. There will be three separate full-day meetings scheduled from March to June 2013 in central and northeast Ohio. The rst meeting will be held mid-March. Selected participants will be reimbursed for travel to and from the meetings and for substitute teacher costs incurred by the district. Applications to participate are available on the ODE Web site through the deadline of Feb. 15. Applicants who are selected will receive notication by the end of February. Click here for additional information on the submission process and the application form. Teaching in Taiwan special opportunity Through a memorandum of understanding with Taiwans Ministry of Education, Ohio teachers have the opportunity to spend a year living and teaching English in Taiwan. The Ohio Department of Education invites new and experienced elementary and middle school teachers to apply to participate in the Teaching in Taiwan program for the 2013-2014 school year. The application deadline is April 5. For more information, visit the Teaching in Taiwan website or contact Dwight Groce at dwight.groce@education.ohio.gov.
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Fiction vs. nonfiction Smackdown

There is no more troubling fact about U.S. education than this: The reading scores of 17-year-olds have shown no signicant improvement since 1980. The new Common Core State Standards in 46 states and the District are designed to solve that problem. Among other things, students are being asked to read more nonction, considered by many experts to be the key to success in college or the workplace. Teaching more nonction will be a key issue. Many English teachers dont think it will do any good. Even if it were a good idea, they say, those who have to make the change have not had enough training to succeed an old story in school reform. The clash of views is well described by two prominent scholars for the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based public policy group, in a new paper. Sandra Stotsky of the University of Arkansas and Mark Bauerlein of Emory University say the reformers who wrote the Common Core standards have no data to support their argument that kids have been hurt by reading too much ction. They say analyzing great literature would give students all the critical thinking skills they need. The problem, they say, is not the lack of nonction but the dumbed-down ction that has been assigned in recent decades. Problems in college readiness stem from an incoherent, less-challenging literature curriculum from the 1960s onward, Bauerlein and Stotsky say. Until that time, a literature-heavy English curriculum was understood as precisely the kind of pre-college training students needed. The standards were inspired, in part, by a movement to improve childrens reading abilities by replacing standard elementary school pabulum with a rich diet of history, geography, science and the arts. University of Virginia scholar E.D. Hirsch Jr. has written several books on this. He established the Core Knowledge Foundation in Charlottesville to support schools that want their third-graders studying ancient Rome and their fourth-graders listening to Handel. Robert Pondiscio, a former fth-grade teacher who is vice president of the foundation, quotes a key part of the Common Core standards making this case: By reading texts in history/social studies, science, and other disciplines, students build a foundation of knowledge in these elds that will also give them the background to be better readers in all content areas. Students can only gain this foundation when the curriculum is intentionally and coherently structured to develop rich content knowledge within and across grades. The Common Core guidelines recommend fourth-graders get an equal amount of ction and nonction. Eighth-grade reading should be about 55 percent nonction, going to a recommended 70 percent by 12th grade. Bauerlein and Stotsky say that could hurt college readiness. The new standards and associated tests, they say, will make English teachers responsible for informational reading instruction, something they have not been trained for, and will not be trained for unless the entire undergraduate English major as well as preparatory programs in English education in education schools are changed. Pondiscio says he admires Bauerlein and Stotsky and doesnt see why English classes have to carry the nonction weight. Social studies and science courses can do that. The real battle, he says, will be in the elementary schools, where lesson plans have failed to provide the vocabulary, background knowledge and context that make good readers.
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Common Core is a Second Order Change: Understand It and Thrive

Second order changes are the great, seismic shifts in practice and understanding that occasionally happen in any profession or domain. They are different in type from rst order change, which is often supercial and determined from the top down. The research on rst-order change in schools is enlightening: There is evidence that one of the reasons schools remain unchanged is that the reforms or changes have been supercial in nature and/or arbitrary in their adoption. Teachers and schools often went through the motions of adopting the new practices, but the changes were neither deep nor long-lasting. In other words, the outward manifestations of the changes were present, but the ideas or philosophy behind the changes were either not understood, misunderstood, or rejected. Consequently, any substantive change in the classroom experience or school culture failed to take root. The illusion of change is created through a variety of activities, but the qualitative experience for students in the classroom remains unchanged when the ideas driving daily practice remain unchanged. (Fouts, 2003) But the shift to Common Core State Standards is an example of second order change. It is a shift in the philosophical thinking about the nature of teaching and learning. This shift basically says: We will no longer teach students to memorize by rote, to understand supercial facts and gures without more nuanced understanding, applicable to real-world problems. Rather, we will teach them to analyze, to generate and test hypotheses. We will ask them to think like mathematicians rather than just do math. We will ask them to think like writers rather than just scribble sentences. We will ask them to use complex cognitive skills to analyze the very complex problems they face as citizens in the 21st century. Its an argument that most of us understand intuitively. Any student can nd facts with a simple Google search. But the cognitive skill to analyze, to weigh, to test, must be learned. And teachers are uniquely positioned to drive that learning. Once teachers, students, and staff embrace the philosophical shift required by Common Core, their resistance to change will lessen. However, there is a sticking point. The Common Core curriculum itself will not look radically different from the lessons teachers have been presenting all along. The deep change takes place in how teachers teach that curriculum, what they do in the classroom to foster the higher-order cognitive skills that Common Core calls for. The change to Common Core calls for lessons to go deep, not broad.

Will Formative Assessment Help Teachers Succeed with Common Core? The Short Answer: Yes.
Heres a sobering thought. In a recent National Journal series, John Bailey warned school leaders to be aware that Common Core standards in themselves arent enough to signicantly impact student learning: There is no reason to believe that the Common Core standards in and of themselves will lead to higher achievement. They are not a curriculum, they are not innovative pedagogical strategies, they are not professional development activities that will produce better teachers. What Baily was saying is that without a strategically planned program for helping teachers get the best results from Common Core, the initiative would most likely ounder. And thats exactly why your school needs a plan for formative assessment. Formative assessment, as dened by Popham (2008) is the process in which evidence of students understanding is used by teachers to adjust instructional practice. It is process of gradual improvement that relies on strong feedback loops to drive student learning. A study by John Hattie and Helen Timperley (2007) found that students engaged in a strong feedback loop showed a whopping 29 percentile gain in student achievement nearly double that for traditional educational interventions. Formative assessment enhances learning. It tracks student progress over time (and tracking student progress itself has been associated with improvement gains as high as 31 percentile points.) Formative assessment tells a teacher how every student in the class is progressing. It tells which students need extra instruction. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008) has recommended regular use of formative assessment so that teachers can adapt their approach depending on each students learning. Teachers regular use of formative assessment improves their students learning, especially if teachers have additional guidance on using the assessment to design and individualize instruction the panel noted. With the introduction of Common Core, formative assessment is more important than ever. It will not be enough to simply cover the curriculum. Students are being asked to develop new 21st century skills. Teachers are being asked to guide their students in that development. Because the skills being taught are new, as are the strategies for teaching them, there is potential for both students and teachers to derail. But a plan for formative assessment can keep everyone on track.

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The Mathematics Common Core Toolbox

Successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) depends on a rich assessment system that addresses the full depth and scope of the standards. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is one of two national assessment consortia charged with the development of an innovative assessment system to measure student learning using both performance tasks and machine-scored assessment tasks. This site (click on title above) offers examples of the types of innovative assessment tasks that reect the direction of the PARCC summative assessments. The set of multipart prototype tasks represents the initial release from a larger set of prototype tasks developed as part of a collaborative project between PARCC and the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, the City University of New York, Agile Mind, Inc., and a select group of experts. Click here to see a list of contributors. The research and development These tasks have undergone an extensive development process including multiple levels of review and renement based on feedback from experts in mathematics, classroom teaching, and assessment, as well as review by representatives of PARCCs governing states. The tasks were then eldtested in two large urban districts and further modied based on the data that emerged from the eld-testing experience. The full set of prototype tasks and their component parts demonstrate innovations of various typesincluding innovations in technological delivery and response mechanisms, opportunities for students to engage in several related problems around a particular context within a task, and, especially, atypical ways of eliciting deeper levels of student thinking than are usually measured on large-scale assessments. With these prototype tasks, PARCC, the Dana Center, and project partners hope to demonstrate to the assessment item developer, PARCCs governing states, concerned educators, and the public the range of assessments possible today with new technologies. The model of EvidenceCentered Design used as a foundation for the PARCC assessment system and these prototype tasks pushes developers to create assessment tasks that elicit specic types of evidence related to the CCSSM. Evidence-Centered Design model In particular, Evidence-Centered Design supports the development of assessment tasks that address the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Thus, the kind of mathematics instruction called for in the CCSSMengaging students in work that helps them develop mathematical habits of mind can be reected in powerful ways in the assessment system. Teachers will likely continue to teach to the test, but, if the tests are designed in ways that reect the standards (including the Standards for Mathematical Practice), then we will have together created assessment instruments that make teaching to the test a worthy undertaking for students and teachers. Viewing the tasks A brief narrative that describes the ways in which the task and its component parts reect innovation and the priorities of PARCC accompanies each sample assessment task included here. The examples provided are intended to model different assessment types.They do not reect the nal display, wording, or interactivity that assessment items will ultimately contain, nor are the items designed to function on mobile devices. Additionally, these prototypes are not intended to address the entire range of computer-based display styles and embedded supports that will be made available for students with disabilities during the administration of the actual assessment. While online and technology-enhanced interactivity is demonstrated in the prototypes, these illustrative items and tasks do not reect the nal technical specications, hardware and software requirements, input and output device allowances, online security guidelines, or computer-based display options of the actual PARCC assessment. The computer and connectivity requirements necessary to access and interact with the prototype site should not be assumed to be the requirements for the nal PARCC assessment. Check out these sample PARCC Math Tasks as part of the summative assessment in 2014-2015:

Elementary Tasks

Middle School Tasks

High Schools Tasks

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Common Core Standards: Teaching Argument Writing

Argument writing is one of three types of writing stressed in the Common Core Standards for English, history, and science/technical studies. As I transition from persuasive to argument writing, my focus is on using technology to engage and support students throughout the process. Tall order. Here are some of the strategies I used to teach argument writing. Whats the difference between persuasive and argument writing? Persuasive writing aims to persuade the reader that the stated position is correct. The writer wants to win over the reader, often by appealing to emotions. In contrast, argument writing must present a strong claim and support that claim with sufcient evidence and relevant valid reasoning. When comparing Indiana Academic Standards with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS),one signicant difference is the addition of argumentative writing at the middle school and high school levels. Students are used to aggressively convincing a reader to take their side in persuasive writing. However, argumentative writing is much more balanced. It requires the development of both sides of an issue, offering several claims for one side while acknowledging that there are valid counterclaims from the opposition. Argumentative writing is not about winning to "get" something, but rather giving the reader another perspective to consider on a debatable topic. When introducing argumentative writing to students, describe it as a debate on paper--with both sides represented by facts, evidence, and relevant support. It's similar to the closing arguments at the end of a Law & Order episode. Consider showing clips of the closing arguments from various trial scenes. Students have to perform a similar role in their writing; they have to be both the prosecutor and the defense attorney. They have to roll out the key facts of the case, the issue, for both sides. Although they are denitely more for one side, their writing has to include valid points from the other side. A second strategy to introduce argumentative writing is to reveal two essays on the same topic--one that's written persuasively and one that's written argumentatively. Before writing arguments with two sides represented, they have to be able to identify them in anchor papers. Charge students to read both essays and highlight every sentence as either a claim helping the writer's argument (highlight those sentences in yellow) or a valid counterclaim from the opposition (highlight those sentences in pink). Students will quickly see that argumentative writing is more balanced and offers facts on both sides, whereas persuasive is all me and what I want. (Access two essays on Animal Testing--the black and white handout and the color-coded answer key.) Studying a persuasive and argumentative piece on the same topic helps students see the subtle, but signicant differences between them. After this activity, you can then study a T-Chart that breaks down the specic ingredients of both types. It's helpful to compare what students already know about persuasive writing as you introduce them to the new and less familiar concepts of argumentative writing.

FROM APPENDIX A OF CCSS, Whats an Argument?

Arguments are used for many purposesto change the readers point of view, to bring about some action on the readers part, or to ask the reader to accept the writers explanation or evaluation of a concept, issue, or problem. An argument is a reasoned, logical way of demonstrating that the writers position, belief, or conclusion is valid. In English language arts, students make claims about the worth or meaning of a literary work or works. They defend their interpretations or judgments with evidence from the text(s) they are writing about. In history/social studies, students analyze evidence from multiple primary and secondary sources to advance a claim that is best supported by the evidence, and they argue for a historically or empirically situated interpretation. In science, students make claims in the form of statements or conclusions that answer questions or address problems. Using data in a scientically acceptable form, students marshal evidence and draw on their understanding of scientic concepts to argue in support of their claims. [In elementary school:] Although young children are not able to produce fully developed logical arguments, they develop a variety of methods to extend and elaborate their work by providing examples, offering reasons for their assertions, and explaining cause and effect. These kinds of expository structures are steps on the road to argument. In grades K5, the term opinion is used to refer to this developing form of argument. If you teach ELA, history/social studies, science, or elementary, I hope the above bullet points are helpful. One way we can help students see the argumentative culture of academia is by teaching the ways that arguments differ by discipline. On page 24 of Appendix A (i.e., the appendix containing evidence supporting the CCSS and a glossary of key terms), theres a section called The Special Place of Argument in the Standards. Its not a long read, but its packed with useful insights into why argument (and, in the early grades, opinion writing) has primacy of place in the standards. Check out these three steps contained within W.CCR.1 [9]