**Selected excerpts on math in Grades 3 and 4 from the Common Core State Standards and the current California Standards. Links are to the Standards for all grades (Click on Grade 3 and 4 for specific grade standards)
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010, June 2). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Washington, DC: Author. (Excerpt from pages 21-32 of complete document.) Complete document available at http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf
This excerpt covers the mathematical concepts contained in the grade 3 and grade 4 standards, describing the critical areas that instructional time should focus on and providing a general overview of the mathematical practices and operations students are expected to understand.
California Department of Education. (2009). Mathematics Content Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. Adopted by the California State Board of Education, December 1997. Sacramento, CA: Author. (Excerpt pulled from P. 11-19 of document.) Complete document available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/mathstandards.pdf
This excerpt from California’s current grade 3 and 4 standards describe the mathematical concepts that students should be able to understand when they reach the end of these two particular grade levels.
Numbers and Operations in the Common Core and California’s Standards. Document created by Jason Zimba as pre-reading for the June meeting of the California Collaborative on District Reform.
This document contains excerpts from both the Common Core State Standards and current California standards that are specifically focused on numbers and operations.
California Department of Education. (2007). Guiding Principles and Key Components of an Effective Mathematics Program. In Mathematics Frameworks for California Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. Sacramento, CA: Author. Available at http://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/PUBLICATIONS/CDP/CAMathFrameworks.pdf
This excerpt from the state’s introduction to the California curriculum framework discusses how to achieve a balance within mathematics with three crucial concepts: basic computational and procedural skills, conceptual understanding, and problem solving.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010, June 2). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Washington: Author. Available at http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf
This document contains the final version of the Common Core State Standards for mathematics, introduced June 2nd after review and consideration of public comment on the draft standards. The standards are presented in detail for grades K-8 and 9-12. The document then briefly discusses how standards for mathematical practice should be connected to the standards for mathematical content by developing practitioners engaged with the mathematical subject matter.
Achieve (2010). Do the Common Core State Standards Prepare Students for Algebra in Grade 8? Washington, D.C: Author. Available at http://commoncore.pearsoned.com/images/CCsite/achieving-ccss-algebra-in-8thgrade.pdf
This brief explores whether the Common Core State Standards provide the necessary preparation for students to succeed in algebra in eighth grade. After examining the Common Core’s expectations for math preparation from kindergarten through seventh grade in Minnesota and California, the author concludes that students that meet the expectations set in the Common Core for these grades do have the content knowledge to be prepared for Algebra 1, or its equivalent, in grade 8.
California Department of Education. (2009). Mathematics Content Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. Adopted by the California State Board of Education, December 1997. Sacramento, CA: Author. Available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/mathstandards.pdf
This document contains California’s current mathematics standards, adopted in 1997, presenting grade-by-grade standards for kindergarten through grade seven and groupings of standards (organized by discipline) for grades eight through twelve.
Achieve. (2009). Side-by-Side Comparison of the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards for Mathematics with the Mathematics Content Standards for California Public Schools. Washington, D.C.: Author. Not available online.
The Common Core grade-specific standards were developed by first determining what standards a student must master to be truly college- and career-ready. To understand how these anchor college- and career-ready standards compare to California’s current standards in grades 11 and 12, this piece compares and contrasts California’s current mathematics standards for grades 11 and 12 with the final Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards for Mathematics.
Achieve. (2010, June). Understanding the Common Core Standards for Math. Power Point Presentation. Washington, DC: Author. Not available online.
This except from a general presentation on the Common Core Standards provides an overview of how the standards are structured specifically for mathematics. The slides provide a general overview of the structure of math standards and then illustrate the format in grades K-8 and 9-12. The presentation ends by describing how districts can create different model pathways for mathematics courses for these standards such as moving from Algebra II into higher level courses like pre-calculus or others.
California Department of Education. (2010). Comparison Summary: Mathematics Standards for California Public Schools Comparison to Draft College and Career Readiness Standards for Mathematics: Core Skills: Sacramento, CA. Author. Not Available Online.
This document briefly describes the differences between the draft Common Core mathematics standards and California’s current mathematics standards, breaking down core skills covered in some of the math strands. This summary concludes that in most cases these standards are aligned but that there are a few cases where the Common Core is not clearly aligned with the state’s current standards. (Note: This document was produced before the final standards were released in June, so some of the comparisons may not be current.)
Wilson, W. S., and Martino, G. (2010, March). Review of the Draft K-12 Common Core Standards for Mathematics. Washington, D.C.: The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. Available at http://www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2010/201003 _reviewofthecommondraft/20100323_CommonCoreReview.pdf
This document provides a brief overview of the college and career-ready mathematics standards, specifically evaluating the standards for grades K-8 and 9-12 for both mathematics and for science, technology, engineering and math programs. The authors grade the standards on the basis of clarity and specificity, content and rigor, and strengths and weaknesses, determining that the Common Core math standards earn an A- based on the above categories. Specifically, the authors found that the Common Core math standards had strengths (e.g., an easy to understand layout and a high amount of rigor) that heavily outweighed the weaknesses (e.g., inability to easily measure certain standards).
**This document is considered a priority reading.