Overview of Common Core from the Media and resources as well. Looks at Common Core and Web 2.0 as an Instructional tool

1. The Common Core Standards and Web 2.0 Karen Brooks

2. The Common Core Standardshttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/education/21standards.html Published: July 21, 2010 Less than two months after the nation’s governors and state school chiefs released their final recommendations for national education standards, 27 states have adopted them and about a dozen more are expected to do so in the next two weeks.

3. The quick adoption of common standards for what students should learn in English and math each year from kindergarten through high school is attributable in part to the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition. States that adopt the standards by Aug. 2 win points in the competition for a share of the $3.4 billion to be awarded in September. The common core standards, two years in the making and first released in draft form in March, are an effort to replace the current hodgepodge of state polic

4. They lay out detailed expectations of skills that students should have at each grade level. Second graders, for example, should be able to read two-syllable words with long vowels, while fifth graders should be able to add and subtract fractions with different denominators. Those states that are not winners in the Race to the Top competition may also have less incentive to follow through in carrying out the standards.

5. NYS has made it to the final round in Race to the Top dollars. The problem of wide variations in state standards has become more serious in recent years, as some states weakened their standards to avoid being penalized under the federal No Child Left Behind law. This time, the standards were developed by the states themselves, not the federal government.

6. Last year, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers convened English and math experts to put together benchmarks for each grade. FYI - Texas and Alaska said they did not want to participate in developing the standards. And Virginia has made it known that it does not plan to adopt the standards. Increasingly, national standards are seen as a way to ensure that children in all states will have access to a similar education — and that financially strapped state governments do not have to spend limited resources on developing their own standards and tests.

7. States that adopt the standards are allowed to have additional standards, as long as the common core represents at least 85 percent of their English and mathematics standards A version of this article appeared in print on July 21, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.

8. http://www.parenting.com/new/blogs/mom-congress/heather-jack/common-core-standards-vote The “Common Core Standards” as they are called, focus exclusively on English and Math, so as to avoid politically charged subjects such as American history. Although the title avoids the word “national”, in reality, the “Common Core Standards” are national standards – we will now be able to compare how students in New York compare with students in South Dakota. the standards will finally enable us to get a good grasp on the data of how well we are actually educating our children.

9. The standards are:http://edinformatics.com/curriculum/common_core_standards.htm Aligned with college and work expectations; Clear, understandable and consistent; Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills; Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards; Informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and Evidence-based.

10. Resources from NYSED http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/home.html http://www.corestandards.org Introduction to the Common Core State Standards (66.09 KB) Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (1.50 MB) English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects - Appendix A - Research Supporting Key Elements of the Standards; Glossary of Key Terms (879.32 KB) English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects - Appendix B - Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks (1.53 MB) English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects - Appendix C - Samples of Student Writing ( 22.28 MB) Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (1.10 MB) Common Core State Standards Initiative Toolkit - This toolkit was designed as a space to gather public feedback on the final draft NGA/CCSSO Common Core State Standards.National Governors Association/Council of Chief State School Officers Common Core State Standards Initiative New York State Standards Review Initiative Board of Regents Common Core Standards Review and Adoption Process Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

11. Presentations on Common Core Standards http://prezi.com/bpv82gfiqnn2/copy-of-common-core-state-standards/ http://prezi.com/kinxxpax1usq/common-core-state-standards/ We should be seeing this for NYS very soon. The state (NYS) doesn’t plan to roll out the common standards until 2011-12, and new tests based on the standards won’t come until the spring of 2012.

12. Common Core Standards & Technology

13. http://www.convergemag.com/policy/Technology-Permeates-Common-Core-Standards.html While the Common Core State Standards focus on math and English language arts, they also emphasize technology as a way to learn knowledge and skills in these areas. Basic technology skills will allow students to succeed in college and careers, said Chris Minnich, director of standards and assessments for the Council of Chief State School Officers, which coordinated the standards initiative along with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.

14. technology should be integrated into academics instead of taught separately. The standards include basic technology skills such as keyboarding that students must know to succeed, but in the bigger picture, they call for students to use technology to help them learn instead of just having technology, he said. The College and Career Readiness standards that anchor the K-12 standards call for students to learn skills through technology and multimedia. Mathematically proficient students should know which tools help them perform different tasks, according to the standards. Those tools include pencil and paper, concrete models, rulers, protractors, calculators, spreadsheets, computer algebra systems, statistical packages, and dynamic geometry software. When making math models, for example, tech tools help students visualize the results of varying assumptions, explore consequences and compare predictions with data.

15. In English language arts, the standards call for students to use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing, as well as to interact and collaborate with others. This includes writing blog posts and commenting on blogs, as the students involved in the Comments4Kids project do. Kids should also be able to evaluate information presented in different media and formats, according to the standards. Along with evaluating information, they should be able to produce presentations with digital media, which includes Web-based tools such as Prezi.

16. Now with this understanding of the Common Core Standards – Let’s look at some great Web 2.0 tools out there that can really support the curriculum.