What to do with that new Blue Book?

Returning to School with the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Mathematics

There is an unmistakable feel to starting a school year that is invigorating – the chill in the air, the brand new pack of markers and materials for school, the buses rolling around town, and the promise of a new year.   Welcome back to school!

 This year, we were all greeted with not just new students, but new standards for both Mathematics and ELA. Massachusetts joined 45 other states in adopting the Common Core for State Standards (CCSS) in January 2011. Over the summer, every district received copies of the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics – the blue book. With the new frameworks comes a call for action. We have been told, the new standards are not a reformatting of the old standards, but instead are an opportunity to bring about true change to math learning communities in each school, as well as across the nation.

How do we embrace this new blue book and prevent it from gathering dust on the shelves? How do we unpack and deeply understand what we are being asked to do and how do we support all teachers in that process?

We must think big but start small, moving along one step at a time. I believe that the first crucial step is to truly understand what we are being asked to do. What do the standards mean? How are they the same as the old standards? How are they different? Armed with understanding, we can next move to making instructional decisions to better align the curriculum and assessment tools that are used to our new standards.

Resources:

VIDEO CLIPS:  http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHuntInstitute#p/u/0/9IGD9oLofks

In particular, The Mathematics Standards: How They Were Developed and Who Was Involved and The Mathematics Standards: Key Changes and Their Evidence are helpful.

WEBSITES:

The documents on this site include each standard, connections to the standards for mathematical practices, and classroom examples. http://www.ade.az.gov/standards/math/2010MathStandards/.

Standards that will be addressed on the 2012 MCAS and a transition plan to what will ultimately be a new assessment system. http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/transition/?section=math

Crosswalk documents comparing new and old standards: http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/commoncore/?section=comparison.

For all of us, the blue book added to our set of new materials and to the excitement in the air. If we can work together to respond to our call to action, perhaps we can keep the feeling of September with us throughout the year!

Good luck!

Sue Looney, Ed.D.

President, Looney Math Consulting