Ohio Students and the Common Core

Winter 2012-2013
Ohio Students and the
Common Core
How more rigorous academic standards are
influencing Ohio classrooms today.
What are Common Core Academic Standards?
Clearer. Deeper. Fewer. More rigorous.
Ohio is among 46 states and Washington DC that adopted Common Core standards over the past
several years, a movement led by Governors and state education leaders. Prior to this bipartisan
effort, state departments of education developed standards with limited cross-state collaboration.
Curriculum too often became a survey of a large number of subjects, rather than going into greater
depth in fewer subject areas like many of the top-rated countries do. Sometimes, there was little
consideration for what skills colleges, career-training programs, and employers expect.
The new Common Core standards reflect what today’s students should know to be prepared for
tomorrow’s college courses and careers. These standards are clearer, deeper, fewer and more rigorous.
See examples on page 7.
Created by community and business leaders in 2002,
KidsOhio.org is a data-driven, nonpartisan organization
focused on improving public education in Ohio. The
organization is not-for-profit, funded by the private sector
and does not accept government monies or contracts.
Report available at www.KidsOhio.org
KidsOhio.org
22 E. Gay St., Ste. 600
Columbus, Ohio 43215
614.228.6400
www.KidsOhio.org
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Winter 2012-2013
Common Core
has Bipartisan
Support in Ohio
Senator Peggy Lehner (R):
“It is widely acknowledged
that American students are
falling behind their
international peers. If we
don't take drastic steps to
improve rigor in our
schools, this trend will
continue. The Common
Core offers a significant
opportunity to turn this
around.”
Senator Nina Turner (D):
“A national aspiration for
educational excellence such
as the Common Core is a
valuable tool to prod states
to achieve real results, and
can help increase academic
achievement coast to coast.
Developed by a consortium
of state officials, these
standards will lay the
foundation of an
educational system that
prepares our children to be
dynamic members of the 21st
century workforce. It is no
longer acceptable just to
graduate kids from high
school—every child must be
prepared to succeed in
college or a career. The
Common Core is definitely
the right step in pedagogical
evolution.”
Implementing
Common Core Now,
ahead of 2014 Deadline
Today, 45 percent of Ohio’s public school children are
economically disadvantaged, up from 35 percent five
years ago. That’s about 800,000 students— roughly one
child per each Columbus resident. These children could
be the first in their family to graduate from high school,
but are often less likely to navigate the path from high
school to high-skilled jobs or college.
Yet, even with an unemployment rate of 7.0 percent,
Ohio employers report that 107,000 high-skilled jobs are
unfilled due to lack of qualified applicants. To prepare
students for high-skilled careers, Ohio must bolster
college going among students who have not traditionally
attended college.
Once Common Core standards are implemented,
schools in participating states will better understand how
their students are performing academically compared to
students in other states, and how they can successfully
prepare students for college and career.
This knowledge can inform parents, teachers, and policy
makers, and could lead to cross-state cost sharing of
assessments and curriculum. See page 7 for more.
The Ohio Department of Education is encouraging
educators to implement new standards now, rather than
wait for the 2014 implementation deadline.
Many Ohio schools have already begun. Let’s take a
closer look at what South-Western City Schools and
Graham Expeditionary Middle School (GEMS) are
doing. South-Western is the sixth largest Ohio school
district with nearly 20,000 students. GEMS is part of
The Graham Family of Schools, a 12-year-old highperforming network of four charter schools that enrolls
about 900 students.
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Winter 2012-2013
South-Western City Schools:
Supporting Teachers and Principals on the long
runway to full implementation
Building up momentum for full implementation
John Kellogg, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum for South-Western City Schools, the
state’s sixth largest school district with nearly 20,000 students, says it's not practical to
implement Common Core all at once. He said, "We need to have a long runway in place to
build up momentum before we take off fully." As Common Core is implemented, John
discusses the importance of supporting teachers and principals with targeted professional
development. He also discusses budgetary efficiencies and intra-district collaboration
associated with early implementation of Common Core.
John states, "You have an efficiency issue in elementary schools, where all teachers teach all
subjects. You don't want all teachers to have to implement all new materials and all new
content at one time. You have to protect teachers' sanity.” As curriculum is rewritten, the
district is creates online, up-to-date curriculum guides for teachers. For example, English
teachers have access to resources for teaching and assessing whether students’ writing
assignments are clear, structured, and an appropriate length.
John adds, “We offer content-specific professional development sessions through our quarterly
academy. There are some Common Core standards that can go on in any class— English
Language in Social Studies, for example." The district encourages the cross-pollination of
courses.
Engaging building-level leadership
John believes principals need to feel confident
about the standards, so they can lead faculty.
Where is South-Western?
Map of Franklin County School Districts
He says, "Our first target population was
principals. It's not enough for us to say, ‘Hey
teachers, you need to be paying attention.’
Principals need to know enough so they can
talk about [Common Core standards]
intelligently. Principals need to be able to
recognize Common Core standards in the
classroom. Anecdotally, we are seeing a better
pace to our implementation because building
principals understand [the standards] and are
confident enough to work with buildings to get
things going."
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Winter 2012-2013
Practicing fiscal efficiency
One reason the district is an early implementer is fiscal efficiency. John says, "When you
talk about manpower for curriculum writing, the cost to align new materials is a budget
implication in a large place like this where we really need to phase in [standards] over
time. Our cycle for purchasing textbooks is out of line with the implementation of Common
Core. We don't think we have to be tied to the five-year [text book purchasing] cycle. The
current materials we have can be used to meet Common Core. For budgetary reasons, we
are using current materials and aligning the way we teach to standards. The more
important part is changing the way we teach students."
Building student ownership of a more rigorous education
Common Core encourages teachers to facilitate students’ learning of more rigorous skills
and concepts, rather than merely relay information to students. John says, “Students are
encouraged to own their education. Practices include more rigor in the quality of work we
want students to produce— a higher degree of student engagement in their learning as
opposed to just receiving information. Students are learning how to take information,
analyze it, determine its credibility, and then apply it to new and unique learning situations.
These are higher-order thinking skills. Kids are engaged in looking through content and
getting information— building their own knowledge, without it being handed to them.
Common Core implies that we are going to need to see [teacher facilitation] across more
content areas. It's a part of the growth of us as educators.”
Collaborating to meet common goals
South-Western is “joining hands” from its 30
buildings to the district offices. The district
developed a single document, shared with
teachers, principals, and district
administration, that includes Common Core
goals leading up to 2014-2015.
John says, "Our approach has been, this is a
shared approach from central office to
buildings, building principals and teachers
associations. By having a comprehensive
approach and providing resources, we can
accelerate implementation. Our goal is 100
percent implementation by 2014."
South-Western City Schools Profile*
•
•
•
•
•
6th largest Ohio district, 19,513 students
57% Economically Disadvantaged
District rated A on state report card
17 of 30 schools rated A, 5 rated B, 8 rated
C, 0 schools rated D or F
www.swcs.k12.oh.us
*Source: Ohio Department of Education, Preliminary
District and School Report Card Data, 2012.
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Graham Expeditionary Middle School:
Common Core is asking,
“What more are our students capable of doing?”
Pushing the limits on expectations for students
Greg Brown, Executive Dean of The Graham Family of Schools, and James Kutnow, Dean of
Graham Expeditionary Middle School (GEMS), see Common Core as a framework for
pushing the limits on what students are expected to know and do. GEMS is engaging teachers
in implementing Common Core over two years, rather than all at once. In turn, teachers
engage students with hands-on lessons and projects that tie in with key components of
Common Core, such as synthesizing nonfiction text, problem solving and collaboration.
Greg says, “Common Core is asking us, what more can [students] do; how do you become
able to do deeper work as you move into high school, college and work?" He adds, “Common
Core includes practices that Graham believes in, such as evaluating where students are and
creating a path to where they should be.”
Connecting Common Core curriculum with real-life
Greg points out, “If we want students to be self-directed in their learning, more deeply
connected to community, we have to model that as adults.” He says Graham releases and
trusts teachers to be professionals and create this kind of work. Graham uses data and gives
time to analyze it. Greg says, “Our teachers are living out what we ask students to do.”
Sed et tellus at quam sagittis pharetra. Donec faucibus sagittis justo.
As an example, James tells of a group of GEMS teachers who applied for and received a grant
to visit Cape Verde, an island country off the west coast of Africa. He explains, the teachers
went on that trip with a specific purpose, to use their experiences to enhance GEMS’
curriculum. James says, “GEMS students are looking at the Underground Railroad and
connecting the dots to modern day slavery and looking at other cultures using some of those
expectations in the curriculum to not just teach cultures in general.” Greg adds, “Regarding
the Underground Railroad, sixth grade students are asking and answering, ‘Why did they leave
home? What was that like? What was it like when they came to Ohio?’ This is what our
appreciation for Common Core is about. The sixth graders are doing that.”
GEMS seventh graders visit students at Columbus
Global Academy (CGA), a Columbus City school
serving middle and high school students from
roughly 50 countries for whom English is a
second language. Through this district-charter
school partnership, GEMS students interview
CGA students about what it was like to come to
the United States and live in Columbus. Then,
GEMS students write about that they learned.
GEMS students interviewing CGA students
about their experiences moving to America
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Winter 2012-2013
Students’ interviews with immigrant students and their Underground Railroad studies are
specifically connected to GEMS’ teachers’ work in Cape Verde. As a result, GEMS
students read and write about nonfiction text on the culture and history of Cape Verde.
Emphasizing nonfiction
Common Core emphasizes nonfiction. Expeditionary schools like GEMS encourage
students to research all types of text, not only textbooks, but original research and position
papers.
James says, “Nonfiction is another way we've already implemented Common Core. For an
hour a week all we do is read. Every student has an extra hour of math every week and part
of that is nonfiction reading.”
GEMS seventh graders read and learn about slave trade and how that intersects with
America today. Greg says, “Our students talking with students from Global Academy
brings things full circle. People in Columbus today have left their homes due to human
trafficking. It's such a part of the American experience that even for people for whom their
family has been here for hundreds of years there is something endemic to who we are.
People think seventh and eighth graders can't get this. Not true. Common Core is asking us,
‘What more are our students capable of doing?’”
Excerpts from GEMS students’ interviews
with two Columbus Global Academy
students*
GEMS
students
engaged
in an icecream
making
lab
“Bao-Zhi and his family left China because of
the high cost of living. They specifically came to
Ohio to be with Bao-Zhi’s uncle, who had moved
to the states long before them.”
“Zeina left Mauritania because her dad got a job
at …a business that fixes (eye) glasses. She also
moved to get a better education. The American
school she went to (when she first arrived in the
US) did not work for her. She (was often) bullied,
and it was very hard to understand her teachers.
Now Zeina attends Global Academy where she is
learning with students just like her. “It was easier
to make friends at Global Academy than at the
American school. My first friend was from the
same country as me, Mauritania,” she said,
when asked where was it easier to make friends.
*Student names have been changed to protect privacy.
Graham Expeditionary Middle School
Profile*
•
•
•
•
•
125 students
62% Economically Disadvantaged
Rated C on state report card
Met Adequate Yearly Progress and Value
Added Growth
www.gemsschool.org
*Source: Ohio Department of Education, Preliminary District and School
Report Card Data, 2012.
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Winter 2012-2013
How-do-Common-Core-Standards-Differ-from-Past-and-Present-Standards?Subject
Sixth.
Grade.
Writing
CurriculumQualities
Current-Ohio-Academic-ContentStandards
Common-Core-Standards-
Objective
Use.technology,.including.the.Internet,.
Produce.a.creative.writing.sample. Prepare.writing.for.publication.that. to.produce.&.publish.writing.as.well.as.
and.demonstrate.proper.usage.of. is.legible,.follows.an.appropriate.
to.interact.&.collaborate.with.others;.
mechanics,.grammar,.and.
format.and.uses.techniques.such.as. demonstrate.sufficient.command.of.
sentence.structure
electronic.resources.and.graphics
keyboarding.skills.to.type.a.minimum.
of.three.pages.in.a.single.sitting
Sample.
Assessment
Given.a.creative.writing.prompt,.
Students.respond.to.a.writing.
Students.select.a.topic.and.work.
students.produce.a.writing.sample.
prompt.which.is.scored.against.a.preD collaboratively.to.create.a.typewritten.
that.uses.mechanics,.grammar,.
determined.rubric
product.at.least.three.pages.in.length
and.conventions.of.writing
Depth.of.
Understanding
Seventh.
Grade.
Math
Pre22001-Locally2developedCurriculum
Application
Application
Synthesis
Objective
Use.a.variety.of.strategies,.including.
Add,.subtract,.multiply,.and.divide. proportional.reasoning,.to.estimate,. Analyze.proportional.relationships.and.
fractions,.decimals.and.
compute,.solve.and.explain.solutions.
use.them.to.solve.realDworld.and.
percentages
to.problems.involving.integers,.
mathematical.problems
fractions,.decimals.and.percentages
Sample.
Assessment
Given.a.word.problem.that.includes. Research.and.choose.a.proportional.
Calculate.25.simple.expressions.of. integers,.fractions,.decimals.and/or.
problem.that.needs.to.be.solved,.
mixed.numerals,.decimal.numbers,. percentages,.students.will.accurately. create.a.reasonable.solution.to.the.
and.percentages
find.the.solution.and.explain.their. problem,.and.support.the.solution.with.
reasoning
evidence.and.facts
Depth.of.
Understanding
Application
Analysis
Evaluation
This matrix illustrates how Common Core standards are more specific and more rigorous,
pointing students to higher order synthesis and evaluation skills rather than simply application
and analysis of facts.
In sixth grade writing, for example, students collaborate with others to quickly synthesize
information found from a range of references. In seventh grade math, the curriculum moves
away from simple calculations, by focusing on the relationship between math and problem
solving.
“As central Ohio’s largest private sector employer,
we are reminded every day of the importance of an
educated and qualified workforce. Job-ready
graduates are essential to our continued growth at
Chase, and the continued prosperity of our region.”
Jeffrey R. Lyttle
Senior Vice President
Local Media and Community Engagement
JPMorgan Chase (Employs 22,000 Ohioans)
7
Key Points about Common Core
Forty-six states are implementing Common Core. As a result, students from all over the nation
will learn from the same, rigorous curriculum. This will also tell us how well students in Ohio
are achieving compared to the highest performing states in the country. Comparisons have
been limited until now because each state used internal curriculum and assessments.
Common Core assessments are given at the beginning of the school year, so students, parents
and teachers can better understand where each student is academically and where he or she
should be. The student has the rest of the school year to improve on targeted areas.
Common Core standards emphasize higher-order thinking
and usage of facts, rather than merely memorizing facts for a
test. Much of the concern over former standards was that too
much emphasis was placed on memorization and test-taking
skills and not enough time spent on critical thinking and
problem solving skills. The new standards emphasize and
assess these skills and other skills necessary for college and
career, such as synthesizing information, clear
communication, and collaboration with peers.
Source: Ohio Department of Education, Key Findings from a Survey of Ohio Voters, July 9-13,
2012, Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinian Rosner Research on behalf of
Achieve, Inc.
KidsOhio Board (Affiliations for identification only)
Dale Heydlauff, President,
American Electric Power Foundation
Ilana Horowitz Ratner, Education Consultant
Chad Jester, President,
Nationwide Insurance Foundation
Elizabeth Ruppert MD, Professor Emeritus,
University of Toledo College of Medicine
Linda Kass, Trustee, The Ohio State University
Barbara Trueman, Community Leader & Former
Teacher
Jeffrey Lyttle, Senior Vice President, Local Media
& Community Engagement, JPMorgan Chase
Abigail Wexner, CEO, Whitebarn Associates &
Board Chair, KidsOhio
Frederick Ransier, Esq., Partner,
Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease
KidsOhio Staff
Mark Real, President
Ann Ford Bischoff, Senior Policy Analyst
Erika Braunginn, Policy Analyst
Mary Hopmann, Office Manager & Program Associate
This report was made possible by a grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
Find the report at www.KidsOhio.org.