Common Core Resources for Special Education

CCSS

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English and math were adopted in 2010. These standards define what students need to learn at each grade level. They provide a chance to improve access to quality content standards for students with disabilities.

• Common Core State Standards Initiative New!
  • Application to Students with Disabilities (PDF)
  • Frequently Asked Questions
    
    
• CCSS Impact on Special Education (PDF) New!
  Presented to the National Center and State Collaborative Communities of Practice on January 30, 2013.
  
  
• Special Edge – Common Core State Standards Edition (PDF)
  

• National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities – Common Core State Standards
  
  
• CCSS: Implications for students with disabilities (PDF; 3MB)
  This presentation by Martha Thurlow provides contextual information regarding the instruction and assessment of students with disabilities including a description of this student population. It presents information on how the principles of college and career readiness and common core state standards apply to these students. Unique instructional concerns for students with disabilities are addressed including the provision of supports and accommodations and appropriate IEP development. Promising practices in the design of instruction and assessment are also outlined.
  
  
• Implications for Students Receiving Special Education Services (PDF; 1MB)
  This paper discusses that transitioning to core standards gives schools and administrators to improve their programs for all students, especially those with disabilities. Schools must address five key elements to support the achievement of students receiving special education services: ownership; high expectations; intervention systems; inclusion/collaborative teaching; and organization/professional development.
  
  
• Special Educators Look to Tie Individual Education Programs (IEPs) to CCSS
  This article considers aligning students' individualized education programs (IEPs) to the CCSS.

• Transition to Instruction with the CCSS: What do Educators Need to Know? New!
  The goal of the sessions was to increase educator knowledge of the Common Core Standards in English language arts and Mathematics, and to help educators prepare for the important shifts in instructional strategies and curriculum called for by the Common Core Standards. The series of 1-hour interactive sessions were provided live online through a sign-up process and administration conducted by Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) staff.
  
  
  • Webinar: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics: Shifts and Implications for Instruction
    On March 29, CCSSO hosted a webinar, supported by the Kansas Enhanced Assessment Grant (EAG) State Consortium project, titled "Common Core State Standards for Mathematics: Shifts and Implications for Instruction". Presenter Beth Cocuzza, of Student Achievement Partners, is a New Jersey mathematics educator and curriculum expert. Student Achievement Partners is a nonprofit organization founded by three of the contributing authors of the Common Core State Standards that assembles educators and researchers to design actions based on evidence to improve student achievement.
  • Webinar: Language Arts Instructional Strategies for Special Education Teachers and All Teachers
    On April 10, CCSSO hosted a webinar, supported by the Kansas EAG State Consortium project, titled "Language Arts Instructional Strategies for Special Education Teachers and All Teachers". Presenter Lisa Campbell, ELA and special education specialist and professional development leader of Hamilton County, Ohio, focused on critical changes in methods and content of instruction in language arts in the elementary grades under the Common Core Standards that teachers will need to incorporate into their instruction and curriculum.
  • Webinar: The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts: Shifts and Implications for ELA Instruction
    On April 12, CCSSO hosted a webinar, supported by the Kansas EAG State Consortium project, titled "The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts: Shifts and Implications for ELA Instruction". Presenters Meredith and David Liben, ELA instructional specialists and professional development leaders, work with Student Achievement Partners, a nonprofit organization founded by three of the contributing authors of the Common Core State Standards that assembles educators and researchers to design actions based on evidence to improve student achievement.
  • Webinar: Transition to the CCSS for Teachers of Student with Significant Cognitive Disabilities Aligning Instruction to Standards
    On April 16, CCSSO hosted a webinar, supported by the Kansas EAG State Consortium project, titled "Transition to the CCSS for Teachers of Student with Significant Cognitive Disabilities" Aligning Instruction to Standards". Presenter Karen Erickson, special education expert at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, focused on important transitions in instructional approach for teachers of students with significant cognitive disabilities. The webinar includes discussion led by Andrew Hinkle, special education specialist at the Ohio State Department of Education and Rolf Blank, CCSSO project principal investigator.
    
    
• Supporting Struggling Readers with Evidence-Based Practices in California
  This website provides resources to focus on providing explicit reading & language arts instruction for ALL students, especially struggling readers.
  
  
• Teaching Mathematics to Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities
  
  
• Six principles for principals to consider in implementing CCSS for students with disabilities (PDF; 1MB)
  The September/October 2012 issue of Principal considers the multiple challenges involved for implementing the CCSS with students who have disabilities, including assessments.

• Stanislaus County Office of Education - Common Core Standards: Special Education

• Los Angeles County Office of Education: "Literacy for Learning"

General Assessment

• Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)
  SBAC is a multistate consortium working collaboratively to develop a student assessment system aligned with a common core of academic content standards for English language arts/literacy and mathematics. The SBAC will assess all students except those students with significant cognitive disabilities annually in grades three through eight in English-language arts and mathematics and once in grade eleven under current federal requirements. The SBAC assessment will replace the California Modified Assessment. The CDE SBAC Web page includes access to archived SBAC CDE Updates, resources, and presentations.
  
  
  • Resources specific to SBAC Accessibility and Accommodations
    
    
  • Common Core State Standards Special Education Assessment Update (PDF) New!
    Presented to the Advisory Commission on Special Education on May 2, 2013.
    
    
  • Measured Progress to Help SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium Make Assessments More Accessible
    
    
  • Accessible Portable Item Profile (APIP) Standard
    SBAC will be using the APIP format. APIP is a highly efficient interoperability solution for delivering test items to a wide variety of students – who receive these items through many different delivery platforms in a way that supports consistency of the delivery of each and every item. In fact, because of the efficiency of this common coding solution, the educational needs of many more students can be met.

Alternate Assessment

• National Center State Collaborative (NCSC)
  On October 1, 2012, California joined the National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC) Consortia as a Tier II state. The NCSC is a project led by 27 states (18 Tier I core states and 9 Tier II states) who have committed to develop professional development modules and curriculum/instruction resources, create alternate achievement standards and to develop a multi‐state comprehensive assessment system for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Tier I Core States are involved in the governance of NCSC and have decision-making authority. Tier II states help develop an individualized plan to implement professional development modules and curriculum/instruction resources, including formative assessment strategies and progress monitoring tools.
  
  
  • Join the CDE NCSC electronic mailing list by sending a blank e-mail to subscribe-ncsc-update@mlist.cde.ca.gov. If you are on the e-mail list and wish to unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to unsubscribe-ncsc-update@mlist.cde.ca.gov.
    
    • NCSC Updates Archive
      
      
  • The NCSC Web page showcases the NCSC work and provides information on activities, milestones, and events.
    
    
  • CDE, NCSC Presentations
  • Common Core State Standards Special Education Assessment Update (PDF) New!
    Presented to the Advisory Commission on Special Education on May 2, 2013.
  • Special Education Alternate Assessment and Common Core Standards Update (PDF)
    Presented to the Common Core State Standards Roundtable on April 16, 2013.
    
    
  • NCSC Frequently Asked Questions
    
    
  • NCSC Wiki: Resource Materials New!
    This wiki has been created to host the materials that educators will need to accomplish these goals and deliver instruction aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The materials are grouped in three categories:
  • Instructional Resources (reference materials created to support classroom teaching)
  • Curriculum Resources (reference materials created to reinforce educators' understanding of curriculum content)
  • Classroom Solutions (solutions or accommodations created by educators and shared here)
    
    
  • NCSC Overview (PDF)
    This webinar presentation provides an overview of the NCSC comprehensive assessment system along with some background information on the CCSS and the GSEG projects. Guiding principles for development and teacher resources, and emerging models of learning and understanding are presented.
    
    
  • NCSC approach to Content for Students with Significant Disabilities (PDF; 3MB)
    This presentation provides general information on the NCSC assessment system and describes the foundation for the content. It outlines the components of the system that help to make the content accessible to students with significant disabilities. The steps involved in creating the content strands along with examples of math and ELA strands are presented. A brief description of the teacher support being developed, including curricular resources, lesson plans, and sample activities, are also included.
    
    
  • NCSC Collaborative approach to content for students with significant disabilities (PDF; 4MB)
    This presentation provides general information on the NCSC assessment system and describes the approach to making the content accessible for students with significant disabilities. It also provides a description of the teacher supports being developed including curricular resources, unit and lesson plans, and content modules.
    
    
  • New developments in alternate assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities (PDF; 1MB)
    This webinar presentation provides a description of the five assessment consortia and the states involved with each, including the NCSC GSEG. It also includes a description of what college and career readiness means for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The presentation outlines key ideas that form the foundation of the NCSC GSEG assessment system development, including the development of curriculum and instruction. The presentation goes on to cite the importance of communicative intervention with augmentative communication devices and provide ideas on how University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) can be involved.
    
    
  • National Center and State Collaborative General State Enhancement Grant (PDF)
    This presentation provides an overview of the NCSC – GSEG project and includes challenges identified by the partners and states and key ideas for building the foundation of the system. The presentation also includes information on the development and validation of the “core content connectors” which are aligned with the common core state standards and the learning progressions.
    

Parents and Students

• General Assessment: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)
  
  
  • Factsheet for Parents (PDF).
    This one-page handout explains the SBAC system for parents.
    
    
  • Accessibility and Accommodations Factsheet (PDF)
    This one-page handout explains how the Smarter Balanced assessment system will address the needs of students with disabilities and English language learners.

• Alternate Assessment: National Center State Collaborative (NCSC)
  

• CCSS Material and resources
  The California County Superintendents Educational Services Association makes available on its Web site numerous resources on the CCSS. In particular, the document K–8 California’s Common Core Standards Parent Handbook, created with the California State PTA, provides a summary of what students are expected to learn from kindergarten through eighth grade.
  

• Estándares Comunes de California para kindergarten a octavo grado Manual para padres de familia (PDF)
  

• Parent Guides to Student Success
  The National PTA offers Parent Guides to Student Success—11 guides that reflect the CCSS and that are written specifically for parents. Individual guides are available for grades K–8; two guides are available for grades 9–12, one for English language arts/literacy and one for mathematics.
  

• Council of Great City Schools - Parent Roadmaps to the CCSS
  These roadmaps offer guidance to parents about what their children will be learning and how they can support that learning, in grades K-8.

• 10 things parents should know about the CCSS New!
  Available in both English and Spanish, from Colorín Colorado.

• Spotlight on the CCSS – What do parents need to know? New!
  What do parents need to know about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? How will they affect teaching and assessing mathematics and English language arts? What are the benefits and what can parents do to prepare for the CCSS? These and other questions are answered in the March 2011 “Spotlight on the Common Core State Standards”—a series published by Education Northwest to keep regional stakeholders informed about this important initiative.

• A parent’s guide to the Common Core Standards

• Consejo de Escuelas de las Grandes Ciudades – Guía para padres sobre los estándares de CCSS New!
  Guías para padres cuales dan información sobre los temas académicos que sus estudiantes van a aprender en los grados K - 8. Estas guías están escritas por grado y dan información sobre el aprendizaje de matemáticas que los estudiantes van a aprender (Spanish Parent Roadmaps to the Common Core Standards-Mathematics).

• ¿QUÉ NECESITAN SABER LOS PADRES? New!
  Una serie publicada por Education Northwest para mantener a personas interesadas, informadas sobre la iniciativa de los Estándares Básicos Comunes.

Other Resources

Instructional Supports for Learning

Instructional supports for learning based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) foster student engagement by presenting information in multiple ways and promote equal opportunities to learn for all students.

• UDL Implementation: A Process of Change
  The National Center on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has a new UDL Series session, UDL Implementation: A Process of Change. In this session, the Center for Applied Special Technology and district leaders describe the five phases of UDL implementation and offer examples of how districts apply the principles of UDL to decision-making and planning.
  
  
• National Center on UDL
  
  
• About UDL
  
  
• Three Principles of UDL
  
  
• UDL Resource Library
  
  
• Center for Applied Special Technology
  
  
• Educators Learning & Practicing UDL
  
  
• Learning Tools
  
  
• Georgia Department of Education
  
  • UDL Training Video with Handouts: Part 1
  • UDL Training Video with Handouts: Part 2
    
    
• UDL Technology Toolkit - Kentucky Department of Education

Instructional Accommodations

Instructional accommodations provide many pathways to learning and consist of strategies that consider each individual’s unique strengths, needs and learning preferences within the existing classroom structures. Accommodations change materials and procedures allowing students to learn within the framework of the CCSS, but do not change the standards.

• National Center on Educational Outcomes
  
  
• About Accommodations
  
  
• Publications and Resources

Assistive Technology

Assistive technology (AT) is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. AT devices and services along with accessible instructional materials (AIM), aid in access to the general education curriculum and the CCSS for all students.

National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials New!
This site is a resource to educators, parents and others interested in learning more about and implementing accessible instructional materials.

Set of Webinars from the Maryland Assistive Technology Network online New!

Accessible Instructional Materials New!
This video explains Accessible Instructional Materials in easy to understand language.

AIM Teaching and Training Resources New!