Assessments & Common Core

Visit the Common Core State Standards website for more information.

 

For more information about specific grade level common core standards and expectations for each grade level at Hawes, please refer to the section on our website under About Us > Grade Standards.

With the implementation of Common Core Standards, the number of standards that are taught at each grade level has decreased; however, our expectation for what each student understands at a deep and rigorous level has increased substantially.  As one carefully looks at the common core standards in English/Language Arts or Math, one notices that the standards build in complexity with each grade level.  For example, in the ELA standard Reading Informational Text, the standard of understanding the details in an informational piece of text (non-fiction) builds from asking and answering key details with support to quoting the text and drawing inferences to have defended a belief about what was read.

Kindergarten:  RI.K.1:  

• With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

First grade:  RI.1.1:  

• Ask and answer key details in a text.

Second Grade:  RI.2.1:

• Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Third Grade:  RI.3.1:  

• Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as a basis for the answers.

Fourth Grade:  RI.4.1:  

• Refer to details and examples in the text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Fifth Grade:  RI.5.1:  

• Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

The structure of alignment in standards from one grade level to the next occurs throughout the English/Language Arts and Mathematics Common Core Standards and gives all teachers a better understanding of the building blocks and skills needed in each grade level.

Smarter Balanced is the system of academic tests that replaced Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program tests in English - Language Arts and mathematics.  The Smarter Balanced tests are based on Common Core State Standards adopted by California in August 2010 and were administered in Spring 2014.  

The Smarter Balanced tests will generally be taken on computers, and the practice tests provide a good idea of what the new tests look like. The Practice tests are available to everyone at:  http://www.smarterbalanced.org/. There is a practice test for each of grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 in both English- Language Arts and math.  Each practice test has about 30 questions and a scoring guide.  Please explore and discuss these tests with your child!  

Through a grant from Chevron, HBCSD implemented ST Math for all  students across the school district.  All students at Hawes work on ST Math aka JiJi each week to strengthen math understanding and proficiency.  Th visual modality of learning with ST Math will be coupled with instruction from the teacher in class to ensure that our students connect the conceptual understanding to the symbols and qualitative world of numbers.  A new component of ST Math, Fluency,  will be added this year.  Students are encouraged to work on ST Math at home daily and it is our expectation that students complete 100% of the grade level program during the school year.

 

On the MIND Research Institute website, it states, "ST Math is game-based instructional software for K-5 and secondary intervention and is designed to boost math comprehension and proficiency through visual learning.  Integrating with classroom instruction, ST Math incorporates the latest research in learning and the brain and promotes mastery-based learning and mathematical understanding.  The ST Math software games use interactive, graphically-rich animations that visually represent mathematical concepts to improve conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills."

MIND Research Institute website.

Dr. Matthew Peterson Teaching without Words (TEDx Orange County) Video