North Carolina Community College System College and Career Readiness Adult Secondary Education Content Standards Level 5, Grade Levels 9.0 – 12.9 Prepared by: Dianne B. Barber & Steven J. Schmidt Adult Basic Skills Professional Development Appalachian State University Boone, NC Prepared for: North Carolina Community College System Department of College and Career Readiness September 2014 Introduction This notebook contains standards to help instructors understand what adult secondary students should know and be able to do in the four content areas of language arts, math, science, and social studies. Adult secondary students function in grade level equivalents 9.0 to 12.9 and study in adult high school diploma and high school equivalency programs. These standards should guide programs as they create and align their curricula. Language Arts and Math Standards The language arts and math standards come from the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education (CCR) which were released by The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) in April 2013. The CCR Standards were distilled from the Common Core State Standards and reflect the essential skills and knowledge that adult students should have to be prepared for postsecondary education and training, work, and citizenship. The CCR standards recognize that adult learners need a manageable set of standards since adult learners usually attend class less than 100 hours over the course of a program year, have some prior schooling, and benefit from previous life experiences. Language arts encompass standards from speaking and listening, reading, writing, and language. Students are expected to read increasingly complex texts and gain the ability to evaluate arguments while understanding challenging works. Writing standards guide students as they learn to create arguments and write informative, explanatory, and narrative texts. Language standards provide rules for written and spoken English as well as for acquiring new vocabulary. The language arts and math standards have both been divided into four parts based on the North Carolina Community College System Career and College Readiness Adult Secondary Education Credential courses facilitated by Adult Basic Skills Professional Development at Appalachian State University. These divisions are as follows, and each course covers these topics: Language Arts ASE LA 1-Production and Distribution of Writing: How to write informative and narrative texts ASE LA 2-Using Research in Writing Endeavors: How to conduct research, evaluate sources and create argument based writing ASE LA 3-Understanding and Analyzing Literature: How to analyze and understand literature including poetry and prose ASE LA 4-Understanding and Analyzing Informational Texts: How to analyze and understand informative texts Math ASE MA 1-Algebraic Concepts and Expressions: How to understand and solve radical expressions along with performing operations on polynomial and rational expressions ASE MA 2-Algebraic Equations and Inequalities: How to create, represent, explain, and solve algebraic equations and inequalities ASE MA 3-Algebraic Functions and Models: How to interpret and evaluate functions and model mathematical expressions in various forms ASE MA 4-Geometry, Probability, and Statistics: How to interpret and solve problems in geometry, probability, and statistics Science and Social Studies Standards As the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education only cover math and language arts, the science and social studies standards are based on the North Carolina Essential Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. The Essential Standards guide secondary instruction for North Carolina high school students and were developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. These Essential Standards were adopted to ensure the most rigorous and relevant standards to guide instruction for 21st Century students. The Next Generation Science Standards were developed by teams of writers from 26 states. The standards include the core ideas science students should know, the practices scientists engage in as they work, and the crosscutting concepts that link the different domains of science. The science and social studies standards have both been divided into four parts based on the North Carolina Community College System Career and College Readiness Adult Secondary Education Credential courses facilitated by Adult Basic Skills Professional Development at Appalachian State University. These divisions are as follows: Science ASE SC 1-Living Organisms and Ecosystems: How to understand various life forms as they interact with each other across the Earth ASE SC 2-Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Evolution: How genetic material and molecules function on Earth ASE SC 3-Physical Science: How to conduct scientific inquiry while understanding the physical principles and chemistry of the natural world ASE SC 4-Environmental, Earth and Space Science: How the atmosphere, hydrosphere, oceans, and biosphere work together on Earth and other planets Social Studies ASE SS 1-US History (Colonial Period to 1877): How to understand, see the relevance of, and think about the major events in United States history from early exploration through Reconstruction ASE SS 2-Modern US History (1877 to the Present): How to understand, see the relevance of, and think about the major events in United States history from Reconstruction through recent events ASE SS 3-Civics and Economics: How to understand and apply fundamental concepts in civics and economics including personal finance applications ASE SS 4-World History: How to understand, see the relevance of, and think about the major events in world history from the mid-1500s through recent events All areas of the Adult Secondary Education Standards have checklists that both instructors and students can use to track their progress of standard mastery. These checklists appear at the end of each of the four major sections. North Carolina Community College System College and Career Readiness Adult Secondary Education Content Standards Level 5, Grade Levels 9.0 – 12.9 Language Arts Speaking and Listening - 1.3 ASE LA 1: Production and Distribution of Writing Standards – 1.5 Instructor Checklist – 1.23 Student Checklist – 1.30 ASE LA 2: Using Research in Writing Endeavors Standards – 1.9 Instructor Checklist – 1.26 Student Checklist – 1.33 ASE LA 3: Understanding and Analyzing Literature Standards – 1.11 Instructor Checklist – 1.27 Student Checklist – 1.34 ASE LA 4: Understanding and Analyzing Informational Text Standards – 1.15 Instructor Checklist – 1.28 Student Checklist – 1.35 Updated: September 2014 Language Arts-1.1 Updated: September 2014 Language Arts-1.2 Adult Secondary Education Speaking and Listening Standards Including, but not limited to, skills necessary for formal presentations, the Speaking and Listening Standards require students to develop a range of broadly useful oral communication and interpersonal skills. The standards ask students to learn to work together, express and listen carefully to ideas, integrate information from oral, visual, quantitative, and media sources, evaluate what they hear, use media and visual displays strategically to help achieve communicative purposes, and adapt speech to context and task. These standards should be integrated though out Language Arts instruction. CCR Anchor 1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher- led) with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas. b. Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-making (e.g., informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and individual roles as needed. c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions. d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented. (SL.9-10.1) CCR Anchor 2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data. (SL.11-12.2) CCR Anchor 3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used. (SL.11-12.3) CCR Anchor 4: Present information,