Common Core State Standards For Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Jan/Feb, 2011 Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
A Cause for Alarm Only 70% of high school students graduate on time with a regular diploma, and fewer than 60% of African-American and Latino students do so. (Greene and Winters, 2005)
A Cause for Alarm Students who enter ninth grade in the lowest 25% of their class are twenty times more likely to drop out than the highest performing students. (Carnevale, 2001)
A Cause for Alarm Approximately 32% of high school graduates are not ready for college-level English composition courses. (ACT, 2005)
A Cause for Alarm Approximately 40% of high school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek. (Achieve, Inc., 2005)
A Cause for Alarm U.S. dropouts literacy skills are lower than those of dropouts in most industrialized nations. (A Report to the Carnegie Corporation of New York)
A Cause for Alarm A full 70% of U.S. middle and high school students require differentiated instruction that is instruction targeted to their individual strengths and weaknesses.
Rising Literacy Demands Declining Literacy The average literacy skills required for all American occupations is rising.
Rising Literacy Demands Declining Literacy The 25 fastest growing professions have far greater than average literacy demands, while the 25 fastest declining professions have lower than average literacy demands. (Barton, 2000)
Rising Literacy Demands Compared to ten years ago, significantly fewer adults demonstrate the skills necessary to perform complex and challenging literacy activities. (NCES, 2005)
Lower Literacy Rates Both dropouts and high school graduates are demonstrating significantly worse reading skills than ten years ago. (NCES, 2005)
The Need for Reading Support Reading is critical to building knowledge in history/social studies as well as in science and technical subjects. (CCSS)
College and Career ready College and career ready reading in these fields requires: appreciation of the norms and conventions of each discipline understanding of domain-specific words and phrases attention to precise details the capacity to evaluate intricate arguments, synthesize complex information, and follow detailed descriptions of events and concepts. (CCSS)
College and Career ready Students must be able to read complex informational texts in these fields with independence and confidence because the vast majority of the reading in college and workforce training programs will be sophisticated nonfiction. (CCSS)
The Need for Writing Support For students, writing is a key means of asserting and defending claims, showing what they know about a subject, and conveying what they have experienced, imagined, thought, and felt. (CCSS)
The Need for Writing Support To be college and career ready writers, students must take task, purpose, and audience into careful consideration, choosing words, information, structures, and formats deliberately. (CCSS)
The Need for Writing Support Students need to be able to use technology strategically when creating, refining, and collaborating on writing. (CCSS)
The Need for Writing Support Students have to become adept at gathering information, evaluating sources, and citing material accurately. (CCSS)
The Need for Writing Support Students must have the flexibility, concentration, and fluency to produce high-quality first-draft text under a tight deadline, and the capacity to revisit and make improvements to a piece of writing over multiple drafts when circumstances encourage or require it. (CCSS)
The Need for Writing Support In order to meet these goals, students must devote significant time and effort to writing, producing numerous pieces over short and long time frames throughout the year. (CCSS)
Complement, NOT replace Reading and writing standards are meant to complement the specific content demands of the disciplines, NOT replace them.
Collaboration The Literacy Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects are best taught through a collaboration between the English Language Arts and specific content teachers.
Standards: Sequence Grades 6-8 Grades 9-10 Grades 11-12 RH.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources. RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information. RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
Benefits to students Being able to read complex text independently and proficiently is essential for high achievement in college and the workplace and important in numerous life tasks. --CCSS, page 4
Contact Information diane.audsley@dese.mo.gov 573-751-4898