- FAQs about Investigations and the Common Core State Standards
- FAQs about the Common Core State Standards
FAQs about Investigations and the Common Core State Standards
Q: How well does Investigations align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Mathematics?
A: Investigations in Number, Data and Space is a coherent and focused K-5 mathematics curriculum that can be used to implement the philosophy and content described by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Full alignment can be achieved by teaching the program fully, as written, and integrating the new content included in Investigations and the Common Core.
Q: How well does Investigations align with the CCSS’s Standards for Mathematical Practice?
A: The Standards for Mathematical Practice are closely aligned with the goals and principles that guided the development of every Investigations Session. The Practices – which include making sense of and reasoning about mathematics, constructing arguments and explanations, and selecting appropriate tools to model mathematical concepts and solve problems – are and always have been deeply embedded in the fabric of the Investigations curriculum and facilitate the teaching and learning of mathematics. Virtually every lesson in Investigations includes one or more of these practices. (Read more about the Mathematical Practices in Investigations (PDF).)
Q: How well does Investigations align with the CCSS Mathematics Content Standards?
A: There is strong alignment between Investigations and the Math Content Standards. Each curriculum unit provides an in-depth study of a specific and related set of mathematical concepts and skills. The design of the materials offers students extended opportunities to make sense of, practice, and develop fluency with the key concepts and skills within a grade level and across grade levels. Most of the CCSS content standards are met by teaching the units, in order, as written. Investigations and the Common Core provides new content so that all Standards are covered. (Download PDFs of Pearson's Correlations of Investigations and the CCSS at: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.)
Q: What Math Content Standards are not fully addressed in Investigations? How do you address that content?
A: Most of the CCSS content standards are met by teaching the grade level units, in order, as written. Investigations and the Common Core provides new content so that all Standards are covered. (Download PDFs that describe this content at: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.)
Q: What do the Investigations and the Common Core materials include?
A: The authors of Investigations worked with Pearson to develop materials to support teachers and schools that use Investigations to implement the Core Standards. These companion materials are designed for use in conjunction with the curriculum units at each grade level, K-5, and include everything needed to support teachers as they implement Investigations and the CCSS in their classrooms. (Learn more: Investigations and the Common Core.)
Q: Will there be new assessments?
A: Yes. Additional assessments are included when a substantial amount of new content–3 or more new Sessions–has been added.
Q: Does Investigations and the Common Core involve any changes in sequence? Are any units moving from one grade to another?
A: No. The sequence at each grade remains the same. Instead, additional content has been added, and some content omitted. Additional content builds on existing content and uses familiar contexts and representations within the grade level.
Q: Will the number of Sessions remain the same? Does Investigations and the Common Core specify Sessions to be omitted?
A: Each grade level includes no more than 166 Sessions. Because Sessions have been added, Sessions to omit are suggested. (Download PDFs that contain information about pacing and content that's been added and omitted at: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.)
Q: What was the process? How did you determine what to add/omit?
A: The Investigations authors closely examined each grade level to determine what Common Core Standards were not addressed, or were not fully addressed, in Investigations. Such content is addressed in a variety of ways, depending on the degree of alignment, in Investigations and the Common Core.
- Some standards involved language, vocabulary, notation, or levels of fluency specific to the CCSS. These are addressed by a new activity, a Teaching (or Math) Note, an edit to a Classroom Routine or Ten-Minute Math Activity, or through additional Homework or Daily Practice Pages.
- For bigger content changes, TERC identified the number of new Sessions needed. Most new Sessions were written by TERC authors; a few were written by Pearson.
Given the total number of new Sessions needed at each grade, decisions were made about what to omit. Sessions were selected if the math emphases were repeated for reinforcement (e.g. student data projects) or if the content was not included in the CCSS at that grade and was not seen by the Investigations authors as foundational for later/future work (e.g. the work on symmetry and timelines in grade 2, and probability in grade 4). It was easier, and resulted in a more coherent whole, to omit an entire chunk of work, rather than trying to omit a Session here and a Session there. (Download PDFs that contain information about pacing and content that's been added and omitted at: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.)
Q: Did you omit any/all “extraneous” content—content that was not included in the CCSS at that grade level?
A: Not all “extraneous” content was omitted. Why? Work with data, geometry, and pattern and function supports the CCSS standards within and across grade levels. For example, counting is one of the key areas of focus in Kindergarten. The data unit in Kindergarten supports the development and consolidation of counting skills and concepts. In addition, work in these areas provides the foundation for the development of students' understanding in later grade levels. Foundational work in volume remains in grades 3 and 4, to support the volume standard in grade 5. Deep understanding comes from making connections within and across content strands.
Q: When and how will the Investigations and the Common Core materials be available?
A: Investigations and the Common Core is available from Pearson, in hard copy and online, through Successnet. Information about distribution and cost is available from your Pearson sales rep or through the Pearson website.
Q: We are using the 2008 edition of Investigations. Can we use Investigations and the Common Core? What do we need to buy?
A: Yes. Users of the copyright 2008 edition of the curriculum need to buy Investigations and the Common Core State Standards at Grade X for each teacher. In addition to a set of "snap in" instructional plans for each unit, and new activities and sessions, this book also includes blackline masters of all new Teacher Resources and Student Activity Book pages. These masters are used in addition to the existing Student Activity Book for the grade level. For those who have not yet purchased the Student Activity Book, a CCSS-specific version is available at each grade that includes all of the Student Activity Book pages needed, in chronological order. Any new materials are available individually, from Pearson. For more information, contact your Pearson Sales Rep.
Q: My state/district/school wants to use Investigations to teach the CCSS. What do we need to buy?
A: Schools or districts buying the curriculum for the first time should buy the CCSS curriculum package and the CCSS-specific Student Activity Book, both with a copyright of 2012. (Depending on budgets, and what classrooms already have, additional purchases might include: materials kits, Student Math Handbooks, access to digital components, the Spanish component, and Investigations for the Interactive Whiteboard. For more information, contact your Pearson Sales Rep.)
Q: I teach in a state/district/school that didn't adopt the CCSS. Can I still use Investigations?
A: Yes. You can continue to use the 2008 edition, or can purchase the 2012 edition, without any of the CCSS-related components.
Q: Will a 3rd edition of Investigations be coming out that will be totally aligned with the CCSS?
A: A decision has not yet been made about the possibility of a 3rd edition of Investigations.
Q: Will there be interactive whiteboard activities to go with the CCSS lessons?
A: A timeline for a CCSS version has not yet been determined. However, many of the activities and tools that currently exist as part of Investigations for the Interactive Whiteboard can be used to support many of the new CCSS activities and sessions.
Q: Will there be a CCSS version of the Differentiation and Intervention Guide?
A: A timeline for a CCSS version has not yet been determined. However, new CCSS activities and sessions include suggestions for Intervention, Extension and English Language Learners, as part of the Differentiation: Supporting the Range of Learner section found in nearly every Investigations lesson.
Q: Will ExamView and SuccessTracker be updated to reflect the material in Investigations and the Common Core?
A: Users of Investigations ExamView should "Check for Content Updates" from within the product to access a new Test Bank with the Common Core State Standards assessment items. A Common Core Standards version of Investigations SuccessTracker will require customers to enter a new Access Code into their PSN account. Contact your Pearson sales rep to order the new SuccessTracker Online Access Pack.
FAQs about the Common Core State Standards
Q: The Common Core State Standards: What are they? Why were they written? Who wrote them? How did they come to be written? What was the process?
A: Common Core State Standards were published in June 2010 as part of the work of The Common Core State Standards Initiative. They include standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics (which include Standards for Mathematical Practice). Also see the CCSS website's answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Q: What are the Standards for Mathematical Practice?
A: The Standards for Mathematical Practice "describe ways in which developing student practitioners of the discipline of mathematics increasingly ought to engage with the subject matter as they grow in mathematical maturity and expertise." These Standards include making sense of and reasoning about mathematics, constructing arguments and explanations, and selecting appropriate tools to model mathematical concepts and solve problems. This diagram, from one of the lead authors, is "an attempt to provide some higher order structure to the practice standards, just as the clusters and domains provide higher order structure to the content standards." (http://commoncoretools.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/structuring-the-mathematical-practices/)
Q: How can I learn about the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics?
A: The standards can be read on or downloaded from the Core Standards website. A blog written by William McCallum, one of the lead authors, provides a hyperlinked version of the same document, as well as documents that compile the K-8 Standards by domain. The Illustrative Math Project has developed an online expandable/collapsible version of the K-8 Standards. The National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) has published an Expanded version that includes the overall introduction to the standards, as well as “Standards-setting Criteria, Standards-Setting Considerations, and Applications of the Standards for English Language Learners (ELLs) and Students with Disabilities”. Another project uses learning trajectories to display the information visually. Also in progress: Progressions Documents that describe “the progression of a topic across a number of grade levels, informed both by research on children's cognitive development and by the logical structure of mathematics” and “examples of student tasks that develop and assess [the] skills, understandings and practices [described in the CCSS].”
Q: Which states have adopted the Common Core State Standards? What does adoption mean?
A: The CCSS website maintains a regularly updated map of states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards. Adoption means committing to 100% of the Standards within 3 years. Schools must spend a minimum of 85% of the school year on this content; they can focus on other topics in the remaining 15%.
Q: How will the standards be assessed? When will the assessments be implemented?
A: Two state-led consortia are developing assessments that align with The Common Core State Standards. They are The Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). States that have adopted the Common Core State Standards have signed on to one (or occasionally both) consortium, and will use the test developed by it. The new assessments are expected to be available/in use for school year 2014/2015. Visit the PARCC and SBAC websites for more information, and to find out which states are working with which consortium.
