Proposed Revised Standards Review for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics
Explore the process and importance of the proposed revised standards for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Learn how educators and stakeholders contributed feedback, leading to the enhancement of learning goals for students. Discover the phases of revision and the sources of public comments that shaped the final standards.
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Standards Review: English Language Arts (ELA)/Literacy and Mathematics Motion for the Board to vote on proposed revised standards.
Why is this so important? Reason #1: The standards define the expectations for what teachers should teach and what students should learn for the nearly 1 million students in our schools. Reason #2: The standards are based on the premise that if students are successful in attaining the knowledge and skills defined by the standards, they will be successful after high school. Reason #3: The standards should be a cornerstone of all of our work across the agency. For example, we should be asking ourselves, How does my work link to ensuring students access and achieve these ambitious goals for their learning? 2 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Reminder: How did we approach revisions? We asked: Will this proposed revision . Increase coherence? Increase rigor (ambition)? Increase clarity? 3 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Acknowledgements We are grateful to the hundreds of Massachusetts pre-K 12 educators, higher education faculty, and other stakeholders who contributed hundreds of hours of time and thoughtful feedback to build Massachusetts standards for ELA/literacy and mathematics the highest-quality standards in the nation. 4 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Process: Three Phases Phase 1 (January July 2016): Gathered recommendations for revisions. Phase 2 (July October 2016): Completed proposed revisions; updated Board on progress. Phase 3 (November 2016 Spring 2017): Conducted public comment period; made final revisions. 5 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Sources of Public Comment Online public comment survey (997 full or partial responses, 78% pre-K 12 teachers, 10% pre-K 12 administrators) 10 public regional meetings hosted by the Department (473 participants) Student Advisory Council meeting (60 participants) 4 public conference calls hosted by the Department (162 participants) Principal and Teacher Advisory Cabinets (~75 participants) Additional correspondence related to the draft frameworks 6 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Public Comment Survey: ELA/Literacy Item Agree or Somewhat Agree 91.5% Disagree or Somewhat Disagree 8.5% The revisions improve or maintain the clarity of the Framework. The revisions improve or maintain the coherence of the Framework. The revisions improve or maintain the rigor of the Framework. 90.8% 9.2% 89.5% 10.5% 7 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Department Responses to Public Comment: ELA/Literacy Examples: Public Comment Removing with prompting and support from the pre-K 2 standards risks causing confusion about expectations for young learners. Changing research projects to research signals that students no longer need to conduct and present rigorous academic research. Action Phrase restored in grades pre-K 2. References to projects restored; expectations for research clarified and strengthened. Progression specific to writing poetry added in grades K 5. Expectations for writing poetry in the elementary grades are not sufficiently explicit. 8 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Public Comment Survey: Mathematics Item Agree or Somewhat Agree 90.6% Disagree or Somewhat Disagree 9.4% The revisions improve or maintain the clarity of the Framework. The revisions improve or maintain the coherence of the Framework. The revisions improve or maintain the rigor of the Framework. 85.7% 14.3% 89.7% 10.4% 9 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Department Responses to Public Comment: Mathematics Examples: Public Comment Removing the phrase explain a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem in the standards for grade 8 resulted in lost rigor. Edits to model course standards in the two high school pathways (traditional and integrated) resulted in different expectations for student learning. The model course standards were edited, but not the Conceptual Category standards, causing misalignment. Action Standard edited to clarify that grade 8 students must be able to analyze and justify the theorem. Edits made to high school model course standards to ensure consistent expectations across pathways. Conceptual Category standards edited to reflect the learning expectations of both pathways. 10 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Literacy Across the Curriculum ELA/Literacy: More attention to abbreviations and symbols related to content areas (e.g., kg., B.C.E., #, >) References to mathematics where other content areas are mentioned, as appropriate New Speaking and Listening strand in standards for Literacy in the Content areas Instructional examples, sample student writing, and guidance related to various content areas Mathematics: Strengthened introductory language to stress importance of literacy skills to effective communication about mathematics 11 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Civic Learning and Engagement Introductory material reflects new definition of college, career, and civic readiness adopted by Boards of Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education in 2016. Civic content knowledge Civic intellectual skills Civic readiness 12 Civic participatory skills Civic dispositions Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Improved Glossaries The glossaries included in both Frameworks have been improved for clarity. New or improved definitions have been added for terms such as: ELA/Literacy: audience read closely allusion verb Mathematics: fluency know from memory algorithm standard algorithm 13 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Next Steps Copyedit Transmit to the Joint Committee on Education Make available statewide Provide implementation support to districts examples: Regional networks & professional learning for educators Extensive guidance materials (e.g., cross-walks between revised and previous standards) Links to current resources (e.g., videos of teaching, model curriculum) Align the Next-generation MCAS with the revised standards for the spring 2018 administration 14 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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