McKeown Elementary School Moves to

Common Core State Standards

2011

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in

History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (“the Standards”) are

the culmination of an extended, broad-based effort to fulfill the charge issued

by the states to create the next generation of K–12 standards in order to help

ensure that all students are college and career ready in literacy no later than the

end of high school.

The present work, led by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

and the National Governors Association (NGA), builds on the foundation laid by

states in their decades-long work on crafting high-quality education standards.

The Standards also draw on the most important international models as well

as research and input from numerous sources, including state departments

of education, scholars, assessment developers, professional organizations,

educators from kindergarten through college, and parents, students, and other

members of the public. In their design and content, refined through successive

drafts and numerous rounds of feedback, the Standards represent a synthesis of

the best elements of standards-related work to date and an important advance

over that previous work.

As specified by CCSSO and NGA, the Standards are (1) research and evidence

based, (2) aligned with college and work expectations, (3) rigorous, and

(4) internationally benchmarked. A particular standard was included in the

document only when the best available evidence indicated that its mastery was

essential for college and career readiness in a twenty-first-century, globally

competitive society. The Standards are intended to be a living work: as new and

better evidence emerges, the Standards will be revised accordingly.

The Standards are an extension of a prior initiative led by CCSSO and NGA to

develop College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards in reading, writing,

speaking, listening, and language as well as in mathematics. The CCR Reading,

Writing, and Speaking and Listening Standards, released in draft form in

September 2009, serve, in revised form, as the backbone for the present

document. Grade-specific K–12 standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening,

and language translate the broad (and, for the earliest grades, seemingly

distant) aims of the CCR standards into age- and attainment-appropriate terms.

The Standards set requirements not only for English Language Arts (ELA)

but also for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects.

Just as students must learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language

effectively in a variety of content areas, so too must the Standards specify

the literacy skills and understandings required for college and career

readiness in multiple disciplines. Literacy standards for grade 6 and above

are predicated on teachers of ELA, history/social studies, science, and

technical subjects using their content area expertise to help students meet

the particular challenges of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language

in their respective fields. It is important to note that the 6–12 literacy

standards in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects are not

meant to replace content standards in those areas but rather to supplement

them. States may incorporate these standards into their standards for those

subjects or adopt them as content area literacy standards.

As a natural outgrowth of meeting the charge to define college and career

readiness, the Standards also lay out a vision of what it means to be a literate

person in the twenty-first century. Indeed, the skills and understandings

students are expected to demonstrate have wide applicability outside the

classroom or workplace. Students who meet the Standards readily undertake

the close, attentive reading that is at the heart of understanding and enjoying

complex works of literature. They habitually perform the critical reading

necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of information

available today in print and digitally. They actively seek the wide, deep, and

thoughtful engagement with high-quality literary and informational texts

that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens world views.

They reflexively demonstrate the cogent reasoning and use of evidence

that is essential to both private deliberation and responsible citizenship in a

democratic republic. In short, students who meet the Standards develop the

skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are the foundation for any

creative and purposeful expression in language.

Our school’s instructional staff, working in conjunction with the other sending

districts (KRHS) staff, have begun the development of the new curriculum using

the Common Core State Standards as their guidelines. A timeline for the curriculum review has been established and is available upon request for review. Additionally,

a list of approved texts is available along with the skill array in all curricular areas.

We are proud to now post the district’s curricula on our web page.

Field trips and excursions are an extension of the curriculum and the total school experience. In addition, student submission fees may be charged to parents. However, no pupil will be denied the right of participation because of an inability to pay. Any student who requires specialized medical attention needs to be accompanied by a family member on a field trip. Prior arrangements with the teacher should be made.

The following is a list of the 2012 testing dates for the NJASK assessment:

Grade 5 - April 30, May 1, 2 and 3 (Language Arts Literacy – 2 days and mathematics – 2 days)

Grade 6 - April 30, May 1, 2 and 3 (Language Arts Literacy – 2 days and mathematics – 2 days)

Make-up testing for Grades 5 and 6 will be May 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Grade 3 – May 7, 8, 9 and 10 (Language Arts Literacy – 2 days and mathematics – 2 days)

Grade 4 – May 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 (Language Arts Literacy – 2 days, mathematics – 2 days and

science 1 day)

Make-up testing for Grades 3 and 4 will be May 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18.