Have you ever walked into a dinner party and been the only teacher in the room? A few years ago, I went to a dinner party with my husband and everyone there worked in my husband's field. Everything was fine until they started talking "shop". I was listening, however, I had no idea what they were discussing. They had acronyms and numbers for everything that are significant to them but I really had no clue of the purpose of their conversation. I just smiled and nodded hoping that no one would ask me for my thoughts.
Move ahead to this winter: I attended an articulation meeting with Community College faculty and I had the same feeling of walking into a new language. They also had acronyms and numbers that had significance because the faculty are steeped in the work but I had to ask for clarification to develop my understanding of their common language.
Present day: At the last Geometry meeting, I was rattling of acronyms like PARCC, EOY, PBA, LBG, etc and a teacher expressed the same feeling of walking into a foreign language class and the instructor was speaking so fast that nothing made sense.
This made me think, what is our Common Core language? I know that the Algebra teachers have been steeped in Common Core Algebra this year, yet, not all teachers have had the same experience with the standards, mathematical practices or assessments.
To assist with curriculum teams this summer, I want to articulate PUHSD mathematics Common Core language. Below are a few of the "biggies" that we want to ensure everyone knows the common definition and as you are working with you collaborative teams, ask them- What is our Common Core language?
CCSS-M - Common Core State Standards for Mathematics- Here is a
quick video that gives you a description of the vocabulary for the Common Core document and the purpose of the grain-size of the Common Core mathematics standards which include conceptual category, domain, cluster, and standard.
PARCC -
Partnership for
Assessment of
Readiness for
College and
Careers -
PARCC will be the new assessment in 2015 for 9th and 10th graders. This exam will replace the current AIMS.
Arizona Department of Education has posted the transition plan.
PBA-
PBA is the
Performance-
Based
Assessment for PARCC. This portion of the exam is given in February or March in 2015.
The mathematics PBA will focus on expressing mathematical reasoning and modeling real-world problems. There are prototypes on the PARCC website that will give you an example of a PBA.
EOY- EOY is the End-of-Year Assessments and this portion of the PARCC exam will be given in late April or early May (90% of the school year). The mathematics EOY will call on students to demonstrate further conceptual understanding of the Major Content and Additional and Supporting Content of the grade/course (based on the Model Content Framework).
LBG-
Learning-based grade book to provide specific feedback to students on their learning so that they can re-engage in the content.
As you are winding down the school year and preparing for year 2 of PUHSD CCSS-M implementation ask your teams, what Common Core language do we need to add to the list?
