Our organization believes the California Common Core Standards (CCCS) will empower districts to implement curriculum, assessment, and ongoing professional learning. The students of Fresno County must be prepared to succeed in college and/or immediately enter the 21st century workforce. Therefore, we must be prepared to equip them with the appropriate knowledge, skills, and ability to use and continue to learn advanced technology. Additionally, we must diligently integrate the arts, social studies, sciences, engineering, as well as provide opportunities for high quality applied learning through student projects and showcase events. In order to make this happen, teachers, administrative staff and superintendents must be knowledgeable on how to:
- Deliver instruction that is focused on students’ learning the California Common Core State Standards
- Assess student knowledge using Smarter Balanced Assessments
- Analyze the student learning data to improve instruction
The Common Core Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help their students. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.
Over the next four years, California State Assessments will change to reflect the California Common Core State Standards, which are the compilation of the Common Core State Standards and the additional standards developed by the California Department of Education. The new state assessments, expected to be operational in 2014-15, will focus on measuring deeper levels of thinking, and will therefore be more predictive of college and career readiness.
Check out the CCSS Region 7 Blog: http://cv7ccss.wordpress.com/
