With nearly every state in the country working to implement the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English/Literacy, and more and more resources and information being generated by states, districts, schools and education-focused organizations to support implementation, NASDCTEc is excited to launch a new blog series on the Common Core State Standards and Career Technical Education! The blog will feature news and resources that directly impact CTE educators as well as other materials we think are useful to the field.

Featured Resources & Tools

Project Lead the Way has created an alignment tool that will allow Project Lead the Way (PLTW) teachers in pre-engineering and biomedical sciences to identify where the PLTW curricula align with the Common Core State Standards for each course.

Student Achievement Partners updated and upgraded their website dedicated to CCSS implementation tools, “Achieve the Core,” with new CCSS-aligned materials and resources for struggling students;  two new professional development modules including PPTs, videos, facilitator’s instructions, and hands-on activities; evidence guides for instructional practice that provide specific guidance for what the CCSS look like in planning and practice; and information on how educators can support the Common Core beyond their school communities.

Aspen Institute created a set of short introductions to the CCSS for parents and other stakeholders.

Governor John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, wrote a letter to the Republican National Committee in support of the CCSS.

CCSS and CTE Update

In May, the GED Testing Service announced that they will be aligning the 2014 GED test to the voluntary College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for Adult Education, recently released by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). GED has been undertaking research efforts over the last few years to better align the high school equivalency test to “college and career readiness” and the decision to use these standards, according to the GED Testing Service, aims to help bridge the gap from high school dropout to middle-skills jobs.

The CCR Standards for Adult Education, commissioned by OVAE, identify a subset of the Common Core State Standards in English/Literacy and mathematics found to be most relevant in preparing adult students for success in higher education and training programs. The standards have been bundled into five grade-level grouping to reflect the levels of adult learning, which cover the full K-12 standards in both content areas.

Updates on Common Core-Aligned Assessments

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)
PARCC is launching a Twitter Town Hall series, beginning on June 5 between 6-7 pm ET, utilizing the hashtag #askPARCC. For the full list of the series and their topics and hosts, see the announcement.

PARCC also recently released an updated FAQ and glossary of key terms, both of which can be downloaded here.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
Last month, Smarter Balanced released online practice tests to give educators, parents and students a preview of the full assessment system set of come online in 2014-15.  To learn more about the practice tests, see the Smarter Balanced website.

Have a good CCSS-CTE resource to share? Contact us at [email protected]!

Kate Blosveren, Associate Executive Director