The Curriculum Support and Reform Act of 2011 (AB 250) requires the California Department of Education to oversee the development of professional learning modules (PLMs) that support educators in delivering curriculum aligned to the CCSS to all pupils. These modules will be available online at no cost.
The legislation required that a task force develop criteria to guide the development of the PLMs to provide critical information and strategies as the CCSS are implemented. These criteria would be based on the CA Standards for the Teaching Professions and developed in consideration of the National Staff Development Council’s Standards for Staff Development. The PLMs are to make use of and build on existing professional development programs.
CCSS Professional Learning Modules Task Force Members
The PLMs are charged with deepening educators' understanding of at least the following criteria:
- The CCSS.
- Instructional strategies to support the learning of all pupils, including English learners, pupils with disabilities, and underperforming pupils.
- Instructional strategies that promote creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication skills in all academic content areas.
- The integration of subject content knowledge.
- Instructional leadership and coaching.
Task force members were also charged with selecting the PLM topics.
Welcome to the California Common Core State Standards Professional Learning Modules
The following module topics are now available:
Overview of the Common Core State Standards for California Educators
This module provides an overview of key features of the Common Core State Standards and guides educators to discover the shifts and changes from the 1997 standards for English language arts and Mathematics and how these changes affect their learning contexts. The module includes links to high quality resources to guide implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
Mathematics: Kindergarten through Grade Eight Learning Progressions
This module provides an overview of how the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics kindergarten through grade eight learning progressions are sequenced across and within grade-level spans (kindergarten through grade five and grades six through eight) and how to apply the progressions to instructional practice.
The following topics will be completed in fall 2012:
Mathematics: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve Standards for Mathematical Practice
This module explores the teaching and learning of mathematics through the lens of the Standards for Mathematical Practice for students in kindergarten through grade twelve. It will deepen educators’ understanding of what the mathematical practices are, and why they are important to bring to their students as they transition to the Common Core State Standards.
English Language Arts: Writing to Inform, Argue, and Analyze
This module embeds lessons that reflect key shifts in teaching writing as emphasized by the Common Core State Standards. The lessons are organized by grade level spans (kindergarten through grade two, grades three through five, grades six through eight, and grades nine through twelve) for teaching informative and argument writing genres that convey and critique information, present and analyze arguments, and use evidence and research to communicate for academic and real-world purposes. Suggestions are included for assessing student writing and for scaffolding lessons so all students, especially English learners and students with disabilities, learn and employ the rhetorical and language features of the genres.
English Language Arts: Informational Text—Reading
This module provides participants with an understanding of the rationale for increased emphasis on reading informational text, as defined in California’s Common Core State Standards, in order to better prepare students in kindergarten through grade twelve for college and career success. The module explores the current challenges to providing students with rigorous informational text, and provides practical ideas and innovative solutions. The dilemma of matching text to readers to ensure students move up the ladder of text complexity is explored, and engaging strategies to support students’ access to rigorous texts are provided and explained. Included in this module are five units consisting of pre- and post-assessments, research-based strategies, and resources for classroom application.
Additional professional learning modules will be available before September 2013.
