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Monday, January 14, 2013

Common Core State Standards - Special Education (CA Dept of Education)

Common Core State Standards - Special Education (CA Dept of Education):


Common Core State Standards



Resources and guidelines on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for the Special Education Community.
Educational standards describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject in each grade. In California, the State Board of Education decides on the standards for all students, from kindergarten through high school. Since 2010, 45 states have adopted the same standards for English and math. These standards are called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Having the same standards helps all students get a good education, even if they change schools or move to a different state. Teachers, parents, and education experts designed the standards to prepare students for success in college and the workplace. For details regarding the CCSS for all students visit the main CCSS Web page.
This site offers resources and guidelines on what the CCSS and the new tests will mean for California students in the Special Education Community. 

CCSS Resources

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English and math were adopted in 2010. These standards define what students need to learn at each grade level. They provide a chance to improve access to quality content standards for students with disabilities.
  • Aligning CCSS to Individualized Education Programs (Coming Soon)
    This web page includes resources and tools to help align the CCSS to individual Education Programs
  • Special Education CCSS Frequently Asked Questions (Coming Soon)

Questions:   Kristen Brown | NCSC@cde.ca.gov | 916-445-1064

Smarter Balanced TRT January 2013 New Features


Several changes have been made to the Smarter Balanced Technology Readiness Tool (TRT) in January 2013 to support readiness reports and school exception reports.

Device and Network Readiness Reports

The Device Indicators and Network Indicators reports (under the Results & Indicators tab) will show a percentage of “readiness” in the following ranges: 0%-25% (red), 26-50% (orange), 51%-75% (yellow), and 76%-100% (green).
Since some of the Smarter Balanced minimum system requirements External link opens in new window or tab. do not align directly to existing TRT options, previously submitted Mac OS X 10.1-10.5, Linux, and Chrome devices will need to be updated to new operating system options before the Device Indicator report will be accurate. Similarly, devices with less than 512 MB of memory need to be updated to new memory options before the Device Indicator report will be accurate.
Option Value Prior to Jan 2013Conversion Value (Post Jan 2013)
Mac OS X 10.1 - 10.5Mac OS X 10.4.3
Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.7Mac OS X 10.6
Linux UbuntuLinux Ubuntu v9 - 12
Linux FedoraLinux Fedora v1 - 5
Google Chrome
(operating system)
Google Chrome v19
Less than 512 RAM256 MB
Reference the Devices File Import Layout for specific information on the new operating system and memory options.
The readiness reports are run as a daily batch process during non-business hours. Changes to devices or school readiness survey data will not be reflected until the following day.

"School Complete" Checkbox

A separate method to mark the “school complete” checkbox has been implemented. Previously, the “school complete” checkbox was the first question  in the School Survey Questions section. For this release, the section has been renamed to Readiness Survey Questions, and the “school complete” checkbox has been removed from the section.  Instead, use the new Mark Data Entry Complete option under the Setup tab when you are ready to mark a school as complete.

School Exception Reports

There is a new option, School Exception Report, under the Results & Indicators tab. The report has various options to allow a district-level user to identify schools that are in various stages of TRT completion. For example, an exception report can be run to identify schools that have submitted device information, but have not submitted Readiness Survey Questions information. The reports are run as a daily batch process during non-business hours.

Questions:   Smarter Balanced Technology Readiness Coordinator | sbac-itreadiness@cde.ca.gov