District Administration - March 2012 - (Page 60)

Common Core mAth? is for “everyone who touches a student instructionally to have an opportunity to spend time with the standards and understand what they are, how they work,” and how they are similar to or different from the current standards. Toward that end, Carranza adds, the SFUSD is using the Dana Center as “professional development mentors to make sure this is relevant to all of our instructional staff.” Policy changes in the district might be necessary in connection with the new assessments, whatever they look like, Carranza admits, ”We are in the process of reviewing all of our board policies, and some of those questions will come up in that review,” he says. Technology Issues Meanwhile, in San Francisco and other districts, delivering the new CCSS math assessments online is causing concern Are You reAdY for Three students at San Francisco Unified School District work together in the Balboa High School library. Faced with online assessments in two years, district leaders are worried about the costs of providing the necessary hardware. among some administrators and teachers about how their districts will pay for the new computers, hardware, software and professional development they might need. The Cincinnati district is unsure about possible costs of new technology and professional development, says Young, partly because of continuing developments in ProduCts thAt PreP for Common Core • Big Ideas Math is a middle school math program developed for the Common Core State Standards. • Castle Learning Online, a supplement to classroom instruction, offers review math assignments. • CTB/McGraw-Hill’s CoreLink Services is a summative assessment solution that offers paper-and-pencil or online tests. • CTB/McGraw-Hill’s TerraNova Common Core, a national achievement test that represents a field-tested measure of the CCSS. • DreamBox Learning Math features in-depth fractions coverage for grades 3 and 4 and added virtual manipulatives for K5. • The Geometer’s Sketchpad’s Dynamic Geometry is a strategic tool in terms of how students see math. • Pearson’s Technology Readiness Tool, an open source tool, supports state education agencies to determine technology and infrastructure upgrades for online assessments. • Pitsco Signature Math combines individualized prescriptive lessons, whole-class presentations and real-world applications. • PBS TeacherLine offers online professional development and resources. • School Improvement Network’s Common Core 360 offers teacher training, expert analysis and classroom examples. • Singapore Math offers K12 math books, manipulatives and resources. • Star Enterprise’s math assessments help drive daily instruction. • TenMarks Math is a Web-based program that offers personalized curriculum. technology that make it difficult to select products. “I’m seeing more and more tools out there for students to take tests,” she says. “A lot goes into being able to do it, including the technological infrastructure,” says Carranza. “I’m not sure we’re ready to do that.” With additional funding from a tax approved by San Francisco voters three years ago, the district already is upgrading bandwidth and looking at how it can provide the hardware that schools will need for online assessments. But cost is “a huge issue” in this economy, says Carranza, and while online delivery is “predicated on a wonderful idea, it’s an unfunded mandate and creates another level of requirements that at least our district isn’t prepared to assume at this point.” PARCC and SBAC awarded Pearson a contract in January to develop a new Technology Readiness Tool. This new open source tool, with the assistance of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, will support state education agencies as they work with local education agencies to evaluate and determine needed technology and infrastructure upgrades for the new online assessments. “For districts that don’t make much use of technology right now, this is going to be a major shift,” Sovde acknowledges. “They will have to start thinking about how they will get those resources.” DA Alan Dessoff is a contributing writer to District Administration. District Administration 60 March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - March 2012

District Administration - March 2012
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Research Center
CIO News
Building an Ed Tech Dream Team
Are you Ready for Common Core Math?
A Crystal Ball for Student Achievement
The Single Largest Education Donor Comes With Controversy
Models of Education Reform
Noteworthy Books
New Products
Going Mobile
Professional Opinion

District Administration - March 2012