In Middletown, our entire Learning Leadership Team (administrators, directors, grade leaders, lead teachers, coordinators) all participated in the study of the standards (year 1 of RTT). This activity built a foundation for our CCSS work to move forward. It also provided guidance for the leadership team to provide similar workshops in the buildings. All teachers received the CCSS printed workbooks. These workbooks are still used every day in our district. As a result of this first step, we have now moved on to develop K-12 CCSS curriculums for Math and ELA. We have developed a curriculum framework, units, rubrics, and vocabulary.
An unintended consequence was that the Study of the Standards provided a very strong foundation for us. The district felt a great sense of urgency which then allowed us to quickly begin the work.
The focus on the CCSS and the curriculum development has become a top priority in our district. The shifts that are necessary for this work to come to life continue to impact us every day as we continue to take the steps forward with our implementation.
We are going to continue by implementing our curriculum units. We will also work on phase II of this work by focusing on our instructional strategies for sub-groups, intervention tools to help close the gaps with our work, our assessment literacy as it applies to these units, identification of resources, benchmarking, and rubric development.
Contact Linda F. Savastano, Assistant Superintendent at lsavastano@mpsri.net or (401) 849-2122