Are you among the educators this applies to? Well, to date, the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been adopted by 43 states and the District of Columbia. Beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, those states are assisting school districts in transitioning from a patchwork of local and state curricula to the Common Core standards. Full implementation of CCSS is scheduled for the 2014-2015 school year and that means 100% of the Common Core standards for teaching K-12 mathematics must be fully implemented within three years. Whether you are a principal, a teacher, a math curriculum coach, or a deputy superintendent of instruction, there are immediate and long-term challenges ahead in preparing for CCSS. The good news is that the changes should result in students who are more prepared to move on to college or the workforce. For you, the changes will clarify and simplify the standards you are expected to teach to.

Professional development for math teachers

Common Core calls for all students to achieve mathematical proficiency. Proficiency includes conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and productive disposition. For many of you, fulfilling these standards means shifting both what the content is and how you teach it. You may need the support of curriculum leaders and math coaches to strengthen your content knowledge and develop effective instructional strategies.

In many states, the number of expectations at the end of each grade level will be reduced, but a deeper understanding of the underlying concepts and their interrelationships will be required.

As a result, many math concepts will now be taught in earlier grades. Throughout the curricula, there will be an increased focus on language as a tool for understanding fundamental concepts in mathematics.

This need for professional development is immediate and crucial. In three years, you will be judged by the achievements of your students according to the new standards. The foundation for that increased rigor needs to be built as soon as possible.

Emergence of common assessments

Navigating these waters may be tricky. Here’s a few things to keep in mind. Common Core assessments will be available for the 2015-2016 school year. States are expected to use one of the new available measures currently being developed to assess student progress toward meeting the Common Core standards. Until the new assessments are in place, state assessments will be based on the old standards. This presents a problem, in that many teachers will be hesitant to teach to the new standards until they are reflected in the assessments. The challenge for you will be to bridge those current and future assessments, while teaching to the new standards.

How adaptive learning technology can help

To meet the new standards, technology can be a big help. The best adaptive learning technology should:

• Integrate instruction and assessment
  Evaluation can and should be an ongoing process in learning. With highly adaptive learning technology, each keystroke and mouse movement can be tracked to determine differences in a student’s learning process strategy. And instruction can be tailored to each learner based on these insights, in real time for maximum effectiveness.
• Provide a rigorous foundation in mathematics
  This is the goal any technology must be based on. The curriculum must be thorough and closely aligned with CCSS. Like CCSS, the focus must be on building conceptual understanding, computational fluency and problem solving.
• Use virtual manipulatives to teach concepts
  Virtual manipulatives for mathematics are interactive, computer-mediated, visual representations of dynamic objects that provide opportunities for building conceptual understanding. Some mimic current classroom tools like the mathrack, and there are limitless other representations that allow students to build an answer to a problem, helping to cement concepts in their minds.
• Adapt to each student’s strategies
  Different students learn in different ways. The lesson pacing, sequence, level of difficulty, and use of hints can all be changed to match the student’s current aptitude and learning style. Adaptive learning technology goes beyond whether a student answers a question correctly or not. It can reveal how the student reached an answer, whether he or she is improving, and whether or not extra help is needed.
• Provide instruction and practice that is engaging and interactive
  Today’s students are comfortable with audiovisual and communication technology. When lessons are presented as games, activities and puzzles, they are interesting and stimulating, helping to gain and keep students’ attention.

DreamBox Learning on Google Education Apps Marketplace

DreamBox Learning is supporting the new Google education application marketplace, with our DreamBox Learning Connect tool. Our development team has been working hard to support this new way to quickly get connected. DreamBox Learning Connect allows teachers using DreamBox Learning K-3 Math to have one-click access to their DreamBox Teacher Dashboard, putting student and classroom performance data right into their Google dashboard.

Cloud-based (or internet-based) services give teachers, principals and administrators secure access to classroom applications, performance dashboards, and other information that sit on Google’s servers, which are managed by Google. School districts can save money in IT costs by doing so, and that is a big win for schools.

Let us know if you’d like to see how DreamBox Learning Connect works. We’re excited to showcase our new cloud-based access for school faculty and staff!

Did you know?

Now available: Francis (Skip) Fennell, Ph.D., on the Common Core Imperative (Webinar)

Educators are faced with the challenge of transitioning to the Common Core State Standards in order to deliver effective math instruction that allows all students to excel. View the on-demand webinar with:

• Respected math leader Francis (Skip) Fennell, Ph.D. providing insights into the Common Core opportunity: how to anticipate the hurdles to successful adoption? How will adoption change expectations about the way math is taught? How will students benefit? And how can technology help affect this change?
• And math support teacher Kelly Krownapple shares the ways that DreamBox is helping one district successfully transition to the new standards.

View the webinar today!

Tips for Teachers

Students may come into the classroom with preconceived notions regarding math. But math is everywhere, and plays a role in any subject of interest to students. By finding out what interests students have in and outside of the classroom, lessons can be shaped to fit those interests. Sports metaphors may be helpful for some students, while music works for others. The ways math concepts can be presented are as numerous as the things students enjoy. You can even turn this idea into an exercise, by having students rework a math problem using words and ideas from the animal kingdom, or space travel, or business.