Iowa Core Fact Sheet

Key Messages About the Iowa Core

About the Iowa Core

-       The Iowa Core is a set of goals -- academic standards that set high expectations and provide a clear understanding of what students should know and be able to do in math, science, English language arts and social studies. The standards include learning goals for 21^st century skills in areas such as financial and technology literacy.

-       The Iowa Core sets appropriate expectations for all students -- regardless of where they live -- that reflect the real-world knowledge and skills they will need to graduate from high school prepared for college or to enter the workforce.

-       The Iowa Core emphasizes complex skills rather than basic skills. The standards promote learning based on problem-solving, creativity, and critical-thinking rather than memorization of isolated facts.

-       The standards establish what students need to learn, but not how teachers should teach. The Iowa Core is a set of expectations, not a curriculum, so decisions about how to help students reach the standards remain in the hands of local schools and teachers.

-       With students, parents and teachers all on the same page and working together toward shared goals, we can ensure that students make progress each year and graduate prepared to build a strong future for themselves and for Iowa.

-       This school year is the first in which all grades (K-12) will fully implement the Iowa Core.

Additional Information

How do the Iowa Core and the Common Core overlap?

-       Iowa lawmakers approved the Iowa Core as a state requirement in 2008. State legislators and education leaders led this shift away from locally determined standards, which had caused inconsistent expectations in schools across the state. Iowa educators identified and wrote the essential concepts and skills that make up the Iowa Core.

-       As Iowa worked to develop and implement the Iowa Core, a consortium of states came together to develop common standards for English language arts and math. This was in response to concerns across the country that many students were graduating from high school unprepared for the demands of college and careers.

-       The Common Core standards were developed by this coalition of states led by governors and state school chiefs. Forty-eight states took part, drawing on the expertise of content specialists, teachers, school administrators and parents. The process was open for public comment, and more than 10,000 comments were received.

-       The Common Core standards incorporate the best and highest of previous state standards in the U.S. and are internationally bench-marked to the top-performing nations around the world. Most states have voluntarily adopted the Common Core.

How was the Common Core adopted in Iowa?

-       Iowa, through authority vested in the State Board of Education by the Iowa Legislature, adopted the Common Core State Standards in a public process in 2010 and blended them with our state standards. This was an easy decision because:

o   The two were very comparable in English language arts and math; a study showed 97 percent alignment.

o   Consistent standards allow teachers from across the country to share information and resources and give students a more seamless educational experience from state to state.

Doesn’t the Common Core represent an overreach by the federal government?

-       No. The Common Core was developed by a coalition of states, not the federal government, and Iowa is not receiving federal money to implement the Common Core as part of the Iowa Core.

Where does it stand today?

-       Iowa Core implementation is a multi-year process led locally by schools and school districts with assistance from the Iowa Department of Education and Area Education Agencies.

-       With professional development, schools continue to address how the standards fit with academic content, teaching, and local assessments well into the 2014-15 school year.

-       The Iowa Core is not perfect. We want to continually improve the standards and look to Iowa education stakeholders to help us make the Iowa Core the right fit for Iowa.

-       Iowans will continue to have input into improving our state standards. One way is through an executive order from Gov. Branstad that requires an ongoing review process. The Iowa Department of Education is determining the process for review, which will begin this fall.

Key Features

English/Language Arts

·       Build knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts plus literature.

·       Reading and writing grounded in evidence from the text.

·       Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary.

Example:

English Language Arts – Reading: Literature – Grade 8

-        Craft and Structure

·       Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

·       Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.

·       Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

Mathematics

·       Focus: 2-3 topics focused on deeply in each grade.

·       Coherence: Concepts logically connected from one grade to the next and linked to other major topics within the grade.

·       Rigor: Application of knowledge to real-world situations, and deep understanding of mathematical concepts.

Example:

Mathematics – Grade 3 – Measurement & Data

-        Solve Problems Involving Measurement and Estimation of Intervals of Time, Liquid Volumes, and Masses of Objects.

·       Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes. Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes, e.g., by representing the problem on a number line diagram.

·       Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams (g), kilograms (kg), and liters (I).[1]  Add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve one-step word problems involving masses or volumes that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as a beaker with a measurement scale) to represent the problem.[2]

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[1] Excludes compound units such as cm3 and finding the geometric volume of a container.

[2] Excludes multiplicative comparison problems (problems involving notions of “times as much,” see Glossary, Table 2).

Explore the Iowa Core through New Website

The state has launched a new website, IowaCore.gov, to help teachers across the state put the standards into practice in their classrooms and to help increase public understanding of our statewide academic standards.

Please take time to explore the new website, which includes:

· The Iowa Core standards in a format that is searchable by grade level (K-12) and subject (mathematics, science, social studies, English language arts and 21^st century skills, such as financial literacy).

· A collection of optional education resources that teachers may use to implement the Iowa Core. More than 8,000 resources are available at no charge in a central, searchable online location called IowaLearns.org, which is accessible through IowaCore.gov. The materials are adaptable to fit the individual needs of local classrooms.

· Parent guides to the Iowa Core that parents and other Iowans can use to understand what the Iowa Core is, what students are expected to know and how parents can help at home. The guides were developed in partnership with the National PTA and Iowa teachers.

IowaCore.gov was developed with state funding from the 2013 legislative session. The website is managed by the Iowa Department of Education, which continues to work to improve and expand the site. The “Contact Us” section of the site includes a form to contribute feedback.

The Iowa Core standards set consistent expectations for learning in schools across the state. The standards are a set of academic goals, not a curriculum, so decisions about how to help students reach the standards remain in the hands of local schools and teachers.

For more information, please visit IowaCore.gov.

Iowa Core C-Plan Assistance

As many of you look ahead to the September 15 C-Plan due date, you might be happy to know that the Iowa Core questions have revised to reflect approximately 10 questions.  To best answer these questions, click on the link below.  This document that will provide you assistance in accomplishing that.  Additional support can be found on the AEA11 Eduvision.  As always, if you need any assistance, please contact your AEA Iowa Core Lead! 

Document:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B26qlKUzLGEyM0tKSndxcG9KQXM/edit?usp=sharing

Webinars:  https://aea111.eduvision.tv/default.aspx

Student Assessment Inventory for Schools

I'm not sure if I've ever blogged out information that I discovered on achieve.org, but this resource is too good not to pass along.  For those of you who have never been to this site, achieve.org is  "an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization dedicated to working with states to raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability."

The specific resource is a Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts. This is a "tool district leaders can use to take stock of their assessments and assessment strategy, and do so from a student perspective.  The tool supports a process by which districts evaluate the assessments students are taking, determine the minimum testing necessary to serve essential diagnostic, instructional and accountability purposes, and work to ensure that every district-mandated test is of high quality, is providing the information needed for specific school and district purposes, and is supported by structures and routines so that assessment results are actually used and action steps taken that will help students."

Most importantly, this resource allows teams to dig into what tests have been eliminated, how will the remaining tests be used, and why are these tests important?

Check it out @  http://www.achieve.org/files/AchieveStudentAssessmentInventory.pdf

C-Plan (Consolidated Plan) Application – Now Open

I recently received this information from the Iowa Department of Education and thought I'd pass it on....

 

C-Plan (Consolidated Plan) Application – Now Open

APR, CSIP, DDSDP and Iowa Core Plans are due September 15th. SINA/DINA Plans will not be available until October and are due November 1.

Elements for the APR that are pre-populated by the Department will not be available until August.

** New this year - Additional DDSDP Question - “When was this DDSDP approved by the school board?” – this is a date field that should be populated with the date the board meeting was held during which the DDSDP entered into C-Plan was approved.

Documentation of all C-Plan questions, as well as a webinar for new users, can be found on the Department’s website at https://www.educateiowa.gov/data-reporting/c-plan-consolidated-plan

Merging Districts - Please note that district information will not be updated until mid July. There is no need to wait for this update to enter information into your district’s plans.

Common Core Text Complexity

OK, I get text complexity....but when the Common Core starts talking about Qualitative and Quantitative Measures, I tend to tune out a bit because of its resemblance to my research and statistics class during grad school!  Have no fear.....I stumbled across a document that was published by the New York State Education Department that not only defines the measures of Qualitative and Quantitative Text Complexity, but also includes a GREAT chart of "Common Scale for Brand Level Text Difficulty Ranges" (i.e. Lexile) and Information Text Types.  Check it out @ 

http://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/passage_selection_guidelines_for_assessing_ccss_ela.pdf