Today was a lot of carefully scripted/designed presentations to the commission. There was little time left at the end of the day to discuss the ELA standards and what, if any, additions would be made. There is a lot of confusion about procedures and what their exact charge is. Hopefully, many of the procedural items and processes have been clarified so that further discussions can focus on the content and not on how to reach agreement or have a discussion.
After introductions and a general agreement to use Robert's Rules of Order as the procedural process, public comment was taken. The only person to speak at this time was Dr. Doug McCrae - retired test publisher from Monterey. He spoke to what other states that are adopting CCSS are doing.
August 2 deadline comes from RTTT, 20 states have adopted. WY and WV have adopted CCSS but are not participating in Race to the Top (RTTT).
two consortia developing assessments, 19 states in the consortia have adopted CCSS.
2 states - MA and VA; MA is looking at adopting only by the end of July but will address 15% additions later.
VA not adopted CCSS, not in RTTT or consortia. Will look at aligning their standards to CCSS if needed.
Item 3 - Mark Colonico? from SCOE
Presentation on College and Career Readiness. Power Point handout (posted on SCOE website under the ACSC section)
Background/history on development of College and Career Readiness
Ze'ev Wurman asked about the relationship between the adoption of the CCSS and college/career readiness standards. Sue Stickel said that the adoption of the CCSS does not assume the adoption of the college/career readiness standards.
Scott Farrand - Wasn't sure how this group was going to determine the college/career readiness of the CCSS. There are documents with statements of competencies from Higher Ed as to what is necessary.
Item 6 - Deb Sigman
powerpoint and handouts (I will scan and post later)
Assessment in California and recent developments with the national consortia.
Assessments follow the standards. Not all standards are assessed.
CA did not sign MOU with Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium, but is participating in the PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) consortium. 26 states are participating and this consortium is partnered with Achieve. The Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium has 31 states and is partnered with West Ed.
Item 5 – phone call with Sandra Stotsky. She was one of two members of the validation committee that did not sign off. The other person was Jim Milgram. She shared a letter that was an explanation of why she did not sign off. (I will scan and post).
Phone call with David Pearson - UC Berkeley signed off on validation committee
Powerpoint (I will scan and post)
Question from the commission on balance between informational text and literature - this comes under the shared responsibility for middle and high schools. Needs administrative support to make sure it is done.
Item 4 - International comparisons
Powerpoint on the SCOE/ACSC website
Ze'ev comment addressed to David Chun - failure to address other forms of fractions such as decimals and percents.
Vic Hovsapian - public comment: in Japan they teach in Japanese
Kathy Harris - what does it mean to be internationally benchmarked?
Scott Farrand - don't get lost in comparisons of cultures, top performing countries have more focus, spend more time on number in lower grades. Cursory comparisons may miss the "meat" of what other countries do such as development of topics.
Bill Evers - referred to the National Math Panel document that states the grade level skills and competencies.
Jim Lanich - stressed that we are comparing apples to oranges, standards to international assessments. Shouldn't we be comparing the CCSS to international standards and not assessments.
Item 6 continued - Sue Stickel spoke to the relationship of the academic content standards to other aspects of public education such as frameworks, instructional materials, professional development, and school and district intervention. (I will scan and post her powerpoint.)
Item 5 continued - Tom Adams shared the results of using the Achieve Tool for comparing state standards and the CCSS. I will scan and post his handout.
SCOE draft of suggested 15% additions/changes for the ELA standards. These are posted on the SCOE/ACSC website.
Discussion
Bill Evers generally likes the CCSS for ELA, weakness in formal presentations, need to look at literary genres
Jean - CA standards has a tendency to use parentheticals to guide instruction. Thinks CCSS are superior. Doesn't see any weaknesses.
CTA during public comment expressed concerns about the 15%. They did an independent review and feels the CCSS downplays the CA standards. Generally not supportive of the CCSS for ELA.
Has questions for the commission - If the commission is to add 15%, what criteria will the commission use to select the 15%, what will the vetting process be, should the purpose of adding be to develop an exhaustive list of skills.
Item 7
Bill Evers - proposal: recommend to take all of the add suggestions plus most of the additions on his sheet. motion seconded by Scott Farrand
Discussion
Motion is premature
How the standards are written, can we include some parentheticals
Haven't discussed the CCSS themselves. can you approve the 15% without adopting the CCSS
Clarification - yes it includes adopting the CCSS with the additions.
Ze'ev - doesn't want to adopt unless the additions are included.
Evans wants to divide the question, Pat Sabo seconded.
Confusion among some of the commissioners about their exact job is.
Kathy Gaither under secretary of education - she believes after listening to the group that these standards are not as rigorous as CA. The governor will not support adoption without additions.
Roberts rules of order confusion
Motion to divide did not pass
Agreed to discuss the SCOE version item by item. Got through kindergarten and 1st grade today. Will continue going through the remaining grade levels tomorrow before moving on to math.
Public comment by Sheri Willebrand, Gretchen Muller, Jim Burfiend, Deborah Burfiend, Bob Lucas,
Spoke to supporting the common core standards, limit additions, separate 8th grade math from algebra, and multiple pathways.
Wu will be speaking to the math CCSS at 8 am tomorrow.
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