School Sites Focus Topics on Common Core State Standards Related Competencies
Academic discussions. Grappling with complex text. Supporting ideas with claims and evidence. These are key concepts in the age of the CCSS and each of our school site partners have chosen one of these areas as a focal point for their classroom-based inquiries. MTS school site participants will have complementary inquiries that support the larger umbrella topic and deepen the staff’s understanding of student learning within a particular area.
- At Melrose Leadership Academy in Oakland Unified (OUSD), teachers are looking at how to support students’ grappling with complex text and complex tasks.
- Teachers at RISE Academy in OUSD and Rosa Parks in Berkeley Unified are thinking together about academic discourse.
- The New Highland Academy (OUSD) inquiry group is looking specifically at students’ ability to make claims and support these claims with evidence.
Together, teachers are constructing more nuanced understandings of the new demands of the Common Core State Standards in these areas and learning about what it takes to support their students throughout the developmental continuum. Mills Teacher Scholars provides tools and support to these partner sites to frame an area of inquiry within the topic, to collect classroom-based student data that make learning visible, and to hone collaborative data analysis skills so that teacher scholars are able to make sense of what students know in light of the CCSS and make instructional shifts based on their developing understandings.
