What is the new Common Core curriculum and standards?

Posted on by Muna Meyer

What is the new Common Core curriculum and standards?

The Common Core State Standards are a new set of academic standards adopted by 43 states . The standards are meant to prepare students for college and careers and to make the US more competitive academically.

What is the difference between Common Core and common standards?

The CCSS for math diverge significantly from the current state standards because they require an altered teaching approach. Instead of focusing on the ability to compute and solve, Common Core standards stress the understanding of underlying mathematical concepts.

Why should we unpack standards?

Unpacking the standards allows teachers to better understand what are students are expected to know at each grade level. This allows teachers to develop appropriate lessons targeting the grade level standard. Unpacking also allows teachers to develop grade level assessments (both formative and summative).

What is the purpose of teaching standards?

Standards ensure better accountability – holding teachers and schools responsible for what goes on in the classrooms. The practice of aligning learning to standards also helps ensure that a higher level of learning is attained, guides teachers in the process of assessment and helps keep them on track.

How do I unpack competencies?

There are four key steps to unpacking standards:

  1. STEP 1: IDENTIFY KEY CONCEPTS & SKILLS.
  2. STEP 2: IDENTIFY LEARNING TARGET TYPES.
  3. STEP 3: DETERMINE BIG IDEAS.
  4. STEP 4: WRITE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS.
  5. STEP 1: IDENTIFY KEY CONCEPTS & SKILLS.
  6. STEP 2: IDENTIFY LEARNING TARGET TYPES.
  7. STEP 3: DETERMINE BIG IDEAS.

What is unpacking of learning competencies?

Unpacking is the process of deconstructing student learning outcomes into component parts /competencies to identify key life-long transferable learning skills and the types of learning experiences, activities, tasks, and assessments that align with those outcomes.