In June 2010, Wisconsin adopted the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics, including the literacy in History, Social Studies, Science and the Technical subjects, for all students. These standards define K-12 academic standards which are aligned with college and work expectations, include rigorous content and application, and are internationally benchmarked. Additionally, the Common Core State Standards emphasize literacy in all of the disciplines. For all students to be career and college ready, including students with significant cognitive disabilities, educators should include both the content and the reading and writing skills that students need to demonstrate learning in the other disciplinary areas.
All students, including students with significant cognitive disabilities, deserve and have a right to a quality educational experience. This right includes, to the maximum extent possible, the opportunity to be involved in and meet the same challenging expectations that have been established for all students. Wisconsin educators collaborated with educators from 12 other states to create alternate achievement standards aligned to the Common Core State Standards. These alternate achievement standards are called the Common Core Essential Elements (CCEEs) in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The CCEEs were developed to satisfy the requirement of the U.S. Department of Education that Wisconsin have alternate achievement standards for its students with significant cognitive disabilities that are clearly linked to grade-level academic content standards, promote access to the general curriculum and reflect professional judgment of the highest expectation possible.These new standards will replace the current Extended Grade Band Standards and will be used as the basis for a new alternate assessment, which will replace the current Wisconsin Alternate Assessment for Students with Disabilities (WAA-SwD) in 2014-15.
Wisconsin Common Core Essential Elements
Wisconsin Common Core Essential Elements for English Language Arts
Wisconsin Common Core Essential Elements for Mathematics
Wisconsin Common Core Essential Elements without Instructional Achievement Level Descriptors
Wisconsin Common Core Essential Elements for English Language Arts without Instructional Achievement Level Descriptors
Wisconsin Common Core Essential Elements for Mathematics without Instructional Achievement Level Descriptors
Presentations
The Future of Alternate Achievement Standards and Alternate Assessment in Wisconsin
Career & College Readiness: How Standards & Assessment Support Career & College Readiness for All
Training and Resources
Parent Brochure: This brochure is intended to help parents and community members understand the purpose of the Common Core Essential Elements and how the standards relate to instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Student Baseline and Post-Instruction Checklists
Baseline checklists were developed to help teachers determine which skills from the new Common Core Essential Elements their students with significant cognitive disabilities can perform, and at which performance level. The checklists are not required but rather were developed to help teachers when planning for individual student instruction. The checklists can also be used to assist IEP teams with decisions about which set of academic standards the student's instruction should be aligned with- the Common Core State Standards or the Common Core Essential Elements.
English Language Arts
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Mathematics
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Dynamic Learning Maps Consortium
The Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment System Consortium (DLM) is a 13-state consortium funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The primary purpose of the consortium is to develop alternate achievement standards and an alternate assessment system for students with significant cognitive disabilities that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.
DLM Training
To help educators understand the Common Core State Standards and their application to students with significant cognitive disabilities, the Dynamic Learning Maps consortium has created and will continue to create self-directed learning modules. Each of the interactive modules is short (30-45 minutes on average) and focuses on a single topic. The link to these modules is http://dynamiclearningmaps.org/unc/modules.html.
If you have questions about these modules, please contact dlm@unc.edu
Module 1: Common Core Overview
Description: This self-directed module provides an introduction to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics for teachers who work with students with significant cognitive disabilities who will complete the alternate assessment.
Module 2: Common Core Essential Elements
Description: This self-directed module provides an introduction to the Essential Elements that were developed by the Dynamic Learning Maps Consortium to provide links between the Common Core State Standards and grade specific expectations for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Module 3: Universal Design for Learning
Description: This self-directed module provides an introduction to Universal Design for Learning as it relates to the Common Core State Standards and students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Module 4: Common Core Essential Elements Instructional Achievement Level Descriptors Module
Module 5: Principles of Instruction in English Language Arts*
Description: This self-directed module provides an on overview of principles of instruction in English Language Arts in the Common Core and relates them specifically to students with significant cognitive disabilities who will complete the alternate assessment.
Module 6: Standards of Mathematical Practice
Description: This self-directed module provides an overview of the 8 standards of mathematical practice which guide the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. The Standards of Mathematical Practice were derived from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Research Council’s report, Adding it Up. These are the standards that students at all grade levels should be working toward as they learn mathematics and the specific Common Core State Standards in mathematics.
*DLM, in collaboration with the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, have identified areas of emphases found within the CCSS. At the same time, Wisconsin has identified Foundations for English Language Arts (ELA). These areas of emphases or foundations, provide important guidance for approaching the discipline of ELA. In reviewing the information developed by the DLM professional development team and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) materials developed by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), it became apparent that there needed to be a connection demonstrating the relationship between the information being provided by DLM and DPI. To demonstrate the connection between DLM’s “areas of emphases” and WI’s foundations for ELA, we have provided a cross-walk. This cross-walk is meant to assist with identifying the relationship between the Areas of Emphasis and the WI Foundations for ELA. The modules posted above will refer to DLM’s areas of emphasis.
Assessment Resources
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) expects that the Dynamic Learning Maps Consortium’s (DLM) summative alternate assessment will replace the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment for Student with Disabilities (WAA-SwD) in 2014-2015, following the same timeframe as the SMARTER Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC).
For additional information on assessment refer to: