Common Core Mathematics in a PLC at Work?, Grades 6-8

This teacher guide illustrates how to sustain successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards for mathematics, grades 6-8. Discover what students should learn and how they should learn it at each grade level. Comprehensive research-affirmed analysis tools and strategies will help you and your collaborative team develop and assess student demonstrations of deep conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.

Benefits:

• Discover the five essential paradigm shifts necessary to implement the CCSS for mathematics.
• Receive guidance on forming and sustaining collaborative teams in a Professional Learning Community at Work™ culture.
• Develop a "less is more" content mindset: fewer standards will result in the opportunity of time needed for deeper rigor and conceptual understanding work with students.
• Gain helpful formative assessment strategies for development of student proficiency in the Standards for Mathematical Practice.
• Access dozens of tools, activities, examples, resources, and reproducibles to help teachers and teams analyze, interpret, and implement the Common Core Standards expectations for instruction and assessment.
• Examine the research-affirmed foundation of mathematics content and process standards from 1989 to 2010, and deepen your understanding of the Common Core expectations.

Contents:
Chapter 1: Using High-Performing Collaborative Teams for Mathematics
Chapter 2: Implementing the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice
Chapter 3: Implementing the Common Core Mathematics Content in Your Curriculum
Chapter 4: Implementing the Teaching-Assessing-Learning Cycle
Chapter 5: Implementing Required Response to Intervention
Epilogue: Your Mathematics Professional Development Model
Appendix A: Standards for Mathematical Practice
Appendix B: Standards for Mathematical Content, Grade 6
Appendix C: Standards for Mathematical Content, Grade 7
Appendix D: Standards for Mathematical Content, Grade 8

Timothy D. Kanold, PhD, is an award-winning educator, author, and consultant and national thought leader in mathematics. He is former director of mathematics and science and served as superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125, a model professional learning community (PLC) district in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Dr. Kanold is committed to equity and excellence for students, faculty, and school administrators. He conducts highly motivational professional development leadership seminars worldwide with a focus on turning school vision into realized action that creates greater equity for students through the effective delivery of the PLC process by faculty and administrators.

Diane J. Briars, PhD, a mathematics education consultant, is president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She was mathematics director of Pittsburgh Public Schools for 20 years. Under her leadership, Pittsburgh schools made significant progress in increasing student achievement through standards-based curricula, instruction, and assessment. She is past president of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics and codirector of the Algebra Intensification Project. Dr. Briars began her career as a secondary mathematics teacher.

Harold Asturias, PhD, served as the director of the New Standards Portfolio Assessment Project and the Mathematics Unit for New Standards a project to develop national standards and assessments. In that capacity, he was part of a team of experts whose efforts, involving many states and over a thousand teachers, resulted in the successful production of two assessment systems: the New Standards Portfolio and the Reference Examination. In addition, he was part of the team that produced the New Standards Performance Standards and was a member of the writing group for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Assessment Standards for School Mathematics. Asturias has also served on the board of TODOS: Mathematics for ALL, an NCTM affiliate whose mission is to advocate for an equitable and high quality mathematics education for all students-in particular, Hispanic/Latino students. At the state level, he has served as president of the California Mathematics Council.

David Foster is the executive director of the Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative (SVMI) comprised of seventy-six member districts in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Besides the intensive work in California, SVMI consults across the country. SVMI is affiliated with programs at University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and San Jose State University. Foster established SVMI in 1996 working as mathematics director for the Robert N. Noyce Foundation. He has consulted with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and develops exemplars for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. He was a regional director for the Middle Grade Mathematics Renaissance of the California State Systemic Initiative and also taught mathematics and computer science at middle school, high school, and community college for eighteen years.

Mardi A. Gale is a senior research associate and primary curriculum developer in the field of mathematics education. She also serves as a senior staff member of Making Middle School Mathematics Accessible for All Students, an Institute of Education Sciences funded initiative. She has been involved in public education as a teacher or professional development facilitator for over 30 years. One of seven original regional directors for the state of California's Mathematics Renaissance K-12 program, Mardi has been instrumental in developing a comprehensive mathematics program for both elementary and secondary students.