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Established by the National Education Administration (NEA), the 4 C's have been identified by a wide variety of leaders as the most important 21st Century K-12 skills. They are: Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Creativity.
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Signed into law in October of 2013, the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) is the California-based Smarter Balanced Assessment system.
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Common Core State Standards - The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live.
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Direct Instruction (DI) is a skills-oriented, teacher directed approach to instruction. It takes advantage of smaller groups and one-on-one time. Units of instruction are broken down and sequenced, in order to be delivered explicitly.
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Graduate Outcomes - What skills do high school graduates have following completion of their K-12 education? What is their employability? Are they able to further their studies and contribute in a productive manner to society?
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Inquiry Based Learning involves leading the learner toward understanding through the use of hands-on learning, questioning and reflection -- both on the part of the teacher and on the students. Rather than simply project-based learning, IBL is a deep, disciplined way of thinking and collaboration.
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Linked Learning - An approach that connects strong academics with real-world experiences in a wide range of fields. Often used on the high school level to make the learning process both challenging and more exciting for the student.
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Learning Outcome Statement - What a student is expected to know, skills the student must learn, and attitudes, competencies and mental habits. Typically tailored to be specific to a campus or educational program, and updated as needed throughout a student's learning journey.
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Project Based Learning is a dynamic approach to learning wherein students are encouraged to explore real-world problems and challenges. While figuring out solutions, students gain a deeper understanding of the subjects related to the solutions.
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Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium - a state-led consortium working to develop next-generation assessments to accurately measure student progress toward college- and career- readiness.