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Update #26
May 15, 2013

Announcements:

Update on RTI2 Implementation Guide:
The department is releasing sections of the Response to Instruction & Intervention (RTI2) Implementation Guide early. The RTI2 Implementation Guide will be released in summer 2013 and will provide educators with more detailed information and additional resources for implementing the
RTI2 Initiative. The RTI2 Implementation Guide follows the framework established by the RTI2 Initiative 2013 (released March 2013, www.tncore.org ).  The draft of the Table of Contents illustrates the types of information that will be contained in the Implementation Guide.

 

A draft of Appendix A, which includes sample schedules, is also included. Many districts are in the process of creating schedules for the 2013-14 school year and Appendix A will give some examples of how districts can schedule time for interventions and enrichment.

 

The RTI2 Implementation Readiness Checklists are tools to help districts and schools assess their readiness for implementing the RTI2 Initiative. Two samples of a Readiness Checklist, the Descriptive Rubric and the Percentage Based Rubric are available at this time. These tools will give districts and schools a snapshot of their current level of readiness, provide a way to prioritize areas for implementation and plan for needed resources. As a reminder, full implementation will occur in the 2014-15 school year; however, we want to provide you with tools you can use forthe 2013-14 school year. For questions, please email tncore.questions@tn.gov.

Mathematics Course Substitutions:

Pending final State Board approval in July, beginning in the fall of 2013, students will be allowed to take Physics, AP Physics B or C, or AP Computer Science as a fourth (or more) mathematics credit and to fulfill the enrollment requirement. The attached memo gives more detailed guidance for these course substitutions. If you have questions, please email  tncore.questions@tn.gov.    

 

Opportunity for Districts to Apply for Mathematics and Science Partnership Grant:

School districts can now apply for the competitive Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) Grant.  This is a federally funded grant created to support the Title II, Part B of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.  This unique grant requires school districts to work with a higher educational institution or business to form a partnership that encourages the advancement of math, science and engineering instruction. The projects are designed to meet this goal through professional development and follow-up training opportunities.  This grant program has complimentary objectives that will help the Tennessee Department of Education meet First to the Top initiative goals.  Priorities for 2013-14 MSP projects are the following:

  

Mathematics:

  • Increase teachers' content knowledge for the major work of the grade in K-5 Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (see Appendix F)
Science:
  • Science literacy in grades 6-12
  • Increase Chemistry teachers' content knowledge and pedagogy in preparing students for the end of course exam (EOC)
All aspects of this project, administration details concerning the ongoing responsibilities that would accompany this award and submission details necessary to meet the July 1, 2013 deadline are available in the grant application (here).

  

Recording Available for TNCore Summer Training Registration Update Webinar:

A recording of  the TNCore Summer Training Registration Update Webinar, hosted on Monday, May 13, is now available here. This webinar provides information about school and district team allocations and sites with availability, an overview of training content and logistics, and answers to frequently asked questions. The webinar also includes information about the new K-3 reading training for school leaders. This information is also available on www.TNCore.org.

 

As a reminder, registration for summer training closes May 24 at 5 p.m. C.S.T. If you have any questions, please email tncore.questions@tn.gov.

PARCC Updates:

PARCC Releases Assessment Blueprints and Test Specifications: 

On April 30, PARCC released additional test specification documents, including assessment blueprints, to help educators and the general public better understand the design of the PARCC assessments that Tennessee will use beginning in the 2014-15 school year.

 

Evidence statement tables describe the knowledge and skills that an assessment item or a task elicits from students and provide greater detail about how standards can be combined. More information is available here. These documents include content-specific PowerPoint presentations that provide overviews of the test specifications and FAQs that answer general questions about the development process.

  

If you have questions or feedback, please email tncore.questions@tn.gov.  
Resources:

Common Core Resources Now Available on Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL):
Common Core-aligned curricular development resources are now available on the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL) (here). These resources are made available through collaboration with the TDOE and TEL. TEL is free to access for libraries and residents of Tennessee, and provides more than 400,000 reference materials, journals, essays, podcasts, videos and e-books. 

 

Using TEL, educators can access high-quality informational texts that meet the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts text complexity requirements. Video tutorials and tools show teachers how to leverage the TEL's databases to search for and access texts by topic, author, publication, or Lexile reading level. Specialized resources are available for grades K-5 and 6-12. The page also has brief introductions to informational text and text complexity. 

  
For questions and guidance on curricular development resources on TEL, please contact tncore.questions@tn.gov.  

New Common Core State Standards Mathematics Resources:    
The Tennessee Department of Education is releasing 12 new mathematics instructional tasks. These tasks are in addition to the tasks posted in April and support your work in engaging students in high level tasks. These resources can be found on www.TNCore.org.

 

The North Carolina State College of Education has developed a resource to examine the structure of the learning progressions in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Descriptions of the standards and an in-depth study of their coherence are included in an interactive format. You can find the North Carolina State College of Education resources at http://www.turnonccmath.net/ or www.TNCore.org.