Guiding Strategy 1

Resources, suggestions, and opportunities for local educational agencies for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Systems Implementation Guiding Strategy 1.

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CCSS Systems Implementation Guide

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Guiding Strategy 1

Facilitate high quality professional learning opportunities for educators to ensure that every student has access to teachers who are prepared to teach to the levels of rigor and depth required by the CCSS.

Suggestions for Local Educational Agencies

1. Establish structures for regular, ongoing professional learning in your local educational agency (LEA). To learn more about the features of effective professional development, please review:
   • Greatness by Design (PDF; 4MB), a report by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s Task force on Educator Excellence
   • The Standards for Professional Learning from Learning Forward

2. Utilize professional learning modules available from the California Department of Education (CDE) and Achieve the Core to deepen educator understanding of the CCSS.
   • LEAs in the awareness phase of implementation may use the following introductory modules to provide all educators with an overview of the CCSS and the instructional shifts they require:
     • General
       • Overview of the Common Core State Standards for California Educators
       • Why the Common Core: How the Standards are Different
       • Instructional Leadership and the Common Core
     • English Language Arts (ELA)
       • Introduction to ELA / Literacy Shifts
     • Mathematics
       • Introduction to the Math Shifts
     • Literacy in the content areas
       • Introduction to Literacy Shifts in Content Areas
   • LEAs that are transitioning to and beginning implementation of the CCSS may want to utilize the following modules:
     • ELA
       • English Language Arts: Informational Text—Reading
       • English Language Arts: Writing to Inform, Argue, and Analyze
       • Understanding Text-Dependent Questions
       • Using the ELA/Literacy Publishers’ Criteria to Better Understand the Standards
     • Mathematics
       • Mathematics: Kindergarten through Grade Eight Learning Progressions
       • Mathematics: Kindergarten through Grade 12 Standards for Mathematical Practice
       • Deep Dive into the Math Shifts
     • Literacy in the content areas
       • Understanding Text-Dependent Questions
       • Using the ELA/Literacy Publishers’ Criteria to Better Understand the Standards

3. Review the grade level curriculum documents, which are organized by individual grade levels (kindergarten through grade eight), to learn more about transitioning to the CCSS.

4. Review the many resources on the CDE CCSS Mathematics Resources, CCSS English Language Arts Resources, and CCSS Literacy Resources Web pages to identify additional tools to support the professional learning needs of local educators.

5. Utilize the CDE Professional Development Opportunities Database to identify CCSS-related learning opportunities in your area.

6. Finally, many instructional leaders have shared that the most valuable professional learning occurs when educators work together to develop curriculum designed to support student attainment of the CCSS. Consider using the resources available in strategy 2 of this implementation guide to facilitate the development of new CCSS-aligned curriculum in your LEA.

Questions:   Common Core Systems Implementation Office | commoncoreteam@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0490