The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is a state-led process to develop common standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics for grades K-12 which are internationally benchmarked and aligned to college and career readiness. Georgia has served as a leader in this effort, reviewing standards and providing feedback throughout the process. The State Board of Education adopted the CCSS in July 2010 and named Georgia’s curriculum standards the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS).

Georgia educators will implement the K-12th English Language Arts and K-9th grades Mathematics Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) beginning in the 2012-2013 school year.  Mathematics will phase-in the 10th through 11th grades in following two years.  The common core state standards were well aligned to the previous Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). 

An analysis of the GPS as compared to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) revealed a 90% alignment between our GPS mathematics curriculum and CCSS mathematics, and an 81% alignment between our GPS English language arts curriculum and CCSS English language arts.  The alignment was actually higher for ELA in because the study did not account for all of the grade level shifts as standards moved from one grade to another and as ELA standards are recursive in nature.  Georgia adopted 100% of both the ELA and mathematics Common Core State Standards.  The only additions to the CCSS from the GPS were cursive writing in grades 3-4 ELA and a few other writing related elements.

Through RT3 and state funds, Georgia is providing a blended approach to professional learning to teachers and administrators through both face-to-face and technology-based sessions.  The Department of Education in collaboration with all sixteen Regional Education Services Agencies (RESAs) are providing professional learning on the Common Core through Georgia Public Broadcasting live video streaming, summer and fall ELA and Mathematics teacher and instructional leader academies, regional meetings, Administrator Summits and academies, and online webinars.  Resources are being developed on an ongoing basis which include framework units, aligned resources, unit webinars by grade level, teacher guides, monthly communication via e-mail list serves with teachers, Wikis, newsletters, brochures, Tip sheets, and new formative and benchmark assessments all aligned to and focused on the Common Core standards.  

Professional Learning Webinars and GPB Live Video Streaming and Recordings

All fall English Language Arts and Mathematics Common Core GPS Professional Learning webinars and Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) session recordings may be accessed through @ GeorgiaStandards.org from the Common Core tab.  

College and Career Readiness Assessment

Georgia has also applied for additional RT3 funds as part of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment consortium to develop a common assessment aligned to the CCSS.  These new assessments will be available to all states in the 2014-15 school year and will allow the state to measure the "college and career readiness" of Georgia students compared to their peers across the nation and world.  The proposed assessment system will be computer-based and will measure student progress at key times during the school year, rather than on one test at the end, to allow for instructional adjustment and extra support to students who need it.  To ensure college and career alignment, higher education systems and have signed up to develop the new high school tests.  The goal will be for those institutions and the nearly one thousand campuses they represent, to honor the results of the new assessments as an indicator of students' readiness to take first year credit-bearing courses.

Since the assessments will be developed by states in partnership with one another, they will provide a common metrict for measuring the performance of their students; for the first time, meeting standards in one state will mean the same thing as in other states.  

English Language Arts Training Institutes

The institutes will feature a day-long series of  workshops presented by educator teams from across the state. The workshops will focus on creative and synergistic collaborations in the classroom that enhance and facilitate the shifts in text complexity, rigor, informational text, and writing from evidence that are inherent in the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards.  For more information, click HERE

Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics

The Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (GCTM) will host Summer Mathematics Academies at four Georgia sites in June and July, 2013.  GCTM, in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Education, will provide academies including breakout sessions for individual grade levels K – 11.  They will also provide breakout sessions for high school support courses, high school accelerated courses, and for grades 9 and 10 Statistics content.  For more information, click HERE