Ready Washington Communicating about Common Core and Smarter Balanced Nov. 20, 2014

Ready WashingtonCommunicating about Common Core

and Smarter Balanced

Nov. 20, 2014

www.ReadyWA.org

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Today’s Agenda

• What is Common Core?• Summer 2015: First Smarter Balanced test

scores released• Ready WA campaign overview• Internal communications (teacher voices)• 5 “make-or-break” moments• Statewide polling

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Ready Washington Coalition

• Ready Washington, a coalition of state and local education agencies, associations and advocacy organizations, supports college- and career-ready learning standards and next-generation assessments:

- All students should be better prepared for college, work and life to build the skills to compete for the quality jobs that our state has to offer.

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Real Learning for Real Life

Washington state public awareness campaign to:1) Build public awareness, understanding and

support for Common Core State Standards and their aligned Smarter Balanced assessments.

2) Help schools/educators communicate about Common Core and assessments.

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Real Learning for Real Life

What Is Common Core?

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What is Common Core?

The Common Core State Standards:• Are K-12 learning standards in math and English

language arts• Provide a consistent set of learning standards for all

students, no matter where they live• Set learning goals or expectations for what students

should know and be able to do by the end of a specific section or grade level

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What is Common Core?

The Common Core State Standards:• Build on one another, allowing students to apply the

skills and knowledge they learned in the previous grade to real-life situations.

• Go deeper into fewer topics and focus on developing students’ deeper understanding of key concepts (typical state standards are thought to be a “mile wide and an inch deep).

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Real Learning for Real Life

Smarter Balanced assessments

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Smarter Balanced Assessments• The new assessment system debuts in 2014-15.• Assesses Common Core in math and ELA.• Measurement of skills like research, listening and

communicating reasoning.• Results will be returned faster and comparable

across states grades 3-8 and 11.• Testing and technology innovations are used.

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Smarter Balanced Assessments• OSPI’s State Report Card will not report past

MSP/HSPE results with Smarter Balanced scores– There will be new baseline scores because these

are new exams set to higher standards– They are not comparable to previous state exams– The tests college- and career-readiness; not basic

skills like MSP/HSPE

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Smarter Balanced Assessments• Not just a testing system– A tool for teachers to measure growth throughout year

• Technology based– Students take tests on a computer

• Adaptive exams– Adjusts questions based on student answers

• Interim exam– Assessments throughout school year enable teachers to

use results to change instruction and monitor understanding and academic growth

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Smarter Balanced AssessmentsSmarter Balanced cut scores set Nov. 14According to the 22-state consortium:41% of 11th graders will show proficiency in ELA33% of 11th graders will show proficiency in math44% of middle schoolers will show proficiency in ELA39% of middle schoolers will show proficiency in math38% of grade schoolers will show proficiency in ELA32% of grade schoolers will show proficiency in ELA

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Smarter Balanced Assessments

Will the new Smarter Balanced tests be harder than our current exams?Yes, but that’s because they are aligned to the Common Core State Standards, which are more difficult than our state’s former learning standards in math, reading and writing. Our current state exams measure basic skills. Smarter Balanced, reflecting the Common Core standards, tests students at a college- and-career readiness level.

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Smarter Balanced Assessments

Will test scores be lower on the Smarter Balanced tests compared to our current state exams?It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Student test scores may initially be lower than what students, parents and teachers have seen in the past. Smarter Balanced tests set a new, measuring the skills and knowledge students need to succeed after high school, including problem-solving, writing and critical thinking.

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Smarter Balanced Assessments

Tests will be more accessible to all students:• Smarter Balanced tests will have translations or

glossaries in 10 languages and dialects, and American Sign Language.

• Tests have embedded accommodations and supports for students with and without disabilities (such as text-to-speech, enlarged print, color contrast).

• Interim assessments also will have same supports.

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Real Learning for Real Life

Frame the Message

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Why Common Core?

Washington state’s economy:

• 3rd in the concentration of STEM jobs.

• 1st in the creation of software companies.

• 4th in the nation in technology-based corporations.

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Why Common Core?

March 2013, Washington Roundtable report:“Great Jobs Within Our Reach: Addressing the Growing Job Skills Gap”

• Right now, Washington has 25,000 unfilled jobs for highly-skilled workers – and that number is projected to double by 2017.

• 80% of jobs in STEM and healthcare fields

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Remediation rate for WA students

Why Common Core?

2-Year Colleges

57%enrolled in at least one high-school level course

Washington 2010 graduates enrolled in at least one pre-college (remedial) course in 2010-11 at the community college level -- State Board of Community and Technical Colleges

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Why Common Core?Preparedness

• Requires every student to meet the same rigorous college- and career-ready English and math standards.

• Different starting positions; common graduation standard.

Equity

• All students – regardless of where they live – will be challenged to meet the same expectations. (WA one of 12 states where achievement gap is growing)

Economic Future

• Common Core was developed by governors and state school chiefs concerned about the United States’ battle to remain globally competitive.

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Real Learning for Real Life

Building Awareness, Understanding & Support

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Real Learning for Real Life

Ready WA’s target audiencesParents (primary)Educators (external) & educators (internal)Opinion leaders (lawmakers, business leaders)

Note: These will be similar for any school district or organization.

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Real Learning for Real Life

Ready WA communications channelsWebsite: FAQs, handouts, videosSocial media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTubePaid media: Digital advertising & radioGround game: Parent outreach w/state PTAEarned media: Op-eds, editorial boards, stories

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www.ReadyWA.org

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Facebook & Twitterwww.facebook.com/ReadyWA www.twitter.com/ReadyWA

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www.YouTube.com

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Teacher Voices/Internal Comms

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Teacher Voices

• Group of nine educators gathered in Phoenix in January 2014 with 9 other states

• Goal was to help teachers become advocates for what’s happening in their classroom (college- and career-ready learning standards)

• We’re looking to double the number of teachers this school year (any volunteers?)

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Teacher Voices

• Our WA team came away with specific takeaways for each member:– Teacher blog– Talk to colleagues; build network–Write an op-ed/participate in media

events– Talk to local lawmakers

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Teacher Voices

What you can do• Teachers/principals participate with PTA to

show the why and how• Communicate internally with all staff (who

knows what, and who are advocates)• Write blogs, engage the media (invite key

stakeholders into the classroom or training)

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Teacher Voices

Parent Outreach Efforts• Two-year grant with State PTA to build

awareness and understanding • Goal is to reach 75% of local PTA units this

school year and 90% in 2015-16

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Real Learning for Real Life

Five Make-or-Break Moments

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Make-or-Break Moments

What’s a make-or-break moment?A key time period, date or event to increase communications efforts or initiatives.In October 2013, a team from state education agencies, the state teachers association and education advocacy organizations met to develop Washington’s make-or-break moments.

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Real Learning for Real Life

Build Timeline: When will it start and end?Identify targets: Who’s your audience?Set goals: What do you want to achieve?Craft messages: What do you want to say?Choose channels: How will you communicate?Measure results: What does success look like?

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Make-or-Break Moments

• Spring 2014 during and post field testing• Fall 2014 when the new school year begins• Early 2015 before testing begins/state

Legislature• Spring 2015 when testing is happening/ending• Summer 2015 when testing scores are

returned

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Make-or-Break Moment No. 1Spring 2014, during and post field testing• 200,000 students throughout the state took the Smarter

Balanced field test.• The field test was a test of the test; no individual student

scores were reported.• Parents, especially in those testing districts, became

more aware of Common Core and the new assessments.• Ready WA developed FAQs & worked with districts to

communicate during and after the field tests.

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Common Core FAQs

Do people in WA support Common Core?• Yes, across Washington, 70% of residents, teachers and

people like you support the Common Core. • 68% agree that an initial drop in state test scores is

worth it if student learning increases over time.• 75% agree the new Smarter Balanced assessments are

better geared to accurately measure what students really know and can do.

(Partnership for Learning statewide poll, June 2014)

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Questions?

You’ve heard from us; let us hear from you.

And be sure to follow Ready WA on Facebook and Twitter and visit www.ReadyWA.org for resources and information.

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Contact Info

Chris Barron, Partnership for Learningchris@partnership4learning.org

Nathan Olson, OSPInathan.olson@k12.wa.us

Sean Agriss, Eastern Washington Universitysagriss@ewu.edu