Common Core Aligned Classrooms

Taken from ASCD Educore

What does a classroom look like when it's aligned with the instructional intent of the Common Core State Standards? If this question is on your mind, the Green Flags/Red Flags documents can be used to help understand what implementing the CCSS with fidelity entails. Equally as important, these documents help you understand what a CCSS-aligned classroom would not look like. Meant to act as a guide and a blueprint for what should be included and what should be discontinued in the classroom, these documents can be used to determine patterns of implementation, provide evidence for conversations around professional growth, and for self-reflection. They are not intended for teacher evaluation.

ELA
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B26qlKUzLGEyaTJPYnAxZ190Y00/view?usp=sharing

Math
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B26qlKUzLGEyNGpGSk5fbzJmeUE/view?usp=sharing

New Data on Student Proficiency Rates and Growth

The Iowa Department of Education has been working to fulfill a legislative requirement to develop a system for evaluating and ranking all public schools based on their performance on nine specific measures. This requirement, known as the Attendance Center Rankings, also requires the Department to post this information on its website. The first phase of this system consists of data on two of the nine required measures: student proficiency rates and growth toward college and career readiness. The Department has released a web application that allows users to look up for any school or district:

1. The percentage of students proficient in math and reading in grades 3 through 8 and 11.
2. The percentage of students who have achieved growth toward college and career readiness by the end of high school.  

More information about these definitions can be found on the site. A Frequently Asked Questions document also is available online.
The Attendance Center Rankings system is required as part of House File 215, which was adopted by lawmakers in the 2013 legislative session. The Department is releasing this first phase to demonstrate to the Legislature progress in meeting the requirement. No school rankings are part of this initial release of information.
A more complete Attendance Center Rankings system is expected this fall.

Taken from the Iowa Department of Education website @ https://www.educateiowa.gov/article/2015/01/30/new-data-student-proficiency-rates-and-growth

Date: Friday, January 30, 2015

Jane Schmidt, Iowa Teacher of the Year, 2014, on the Iowa Core State Standards

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