College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) Resources
The College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education (CCRS) are a subset of the Common Core State Standards that reflect broad agreement among subject matter experts in adult education about what adult students need to know to be prepared for the rigors of post-secondary education and the workplace. Pennsylvania adult education programs are expected to use CCRS-based lessons and assignments as the core of instruction. Below are tools, resources, and on-demand professional development modules to support the use of the CCRS. Resources are organized by category. If you are not sure where to begin, talk to your in-house professional development specialist or read the suggestions provided in each section.
Download the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS)
Introduction to the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS)
Mathematics
English Language Arts (ELA)
English as a Second Language (ESL)
Introduction to the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS)
The resources below are designed for instructors or tutors who are new to teaching or new to teaching Adult Education. They cover Depth of Knowledge, an introduction to the CCRS and the Key Shifts, and Unpacking the Standards.
These modules will introduce participants to the structure and layout of the College and Career Readiness Standards, including the levels, content areas, and labels. Participants will learn the benefits of using the CCRS and how the standards apply to lesson planning and teaching adult learners. Please note: If you are interested in using any of these modules as part of the Staff Induction Process, enroll in the same module in the PD Portal rather than viewing it here for tracking purposes.
- On-Demand Module: College and Career Readiness Standards Overview – English Language Arts
- On-Demand Module: College and Career Readiness Standards Overview – Math
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) is a way to categorize the types of tasks that students are asked to complete based upon the thinking skills needed to perform the task.
- Video: Depth of Knowledge: An Introduction
- Resource: A Guide for Using Webb’s Depth of Knowledge with Common Core State Standards by Karin Hess, Ed.D, The Common Core Institute, Center for College and Career Readiness 2013
- Resource: Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix (Math – Science CRM): Applying Webb’s Depth-of-Knowledge Levels to Bloom’s Cognitive Process Dimensions – © Karin Hess (2009, updated 2017)
The unpacking process is a way to learn more about the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) and consider what type of instructional activity might support students learning the skills addressed in the standards.
The College and Career Readiness Standards identify key shifts in instructional practices that should be incorporated into teaching. The key shifts are:
- English Language Arts (ELA) – Text Complexity, Evidence, and Building Knowledge
- Mathematics – Focus, Coherence, and Rigor
- On-Demand Module: College and Career Readiness Key Shifts for English Language Arts UPDATED
- On-Demand Module: College and Career Readiness Key Shifts for Mathematics
Mathematics
The resources below are designed for instructors or tutors who have a good understanding of the CCRS and the Key Shifts and are ready to use them to plan standards-aligned Mathematics lessons.
Mathematics has a set of eight math practices that students should be demonstrating as they solve math problems.
- On-Demand Module: College and Career Readiness Standards for Mathematical Practice
- Math Tool 3: Standards for Math Practices UPDATED
- Math Tool 3a: Math Practice Look-Fors UPDATED
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) developed a process and tools that adult education practitioners can use to evaluate instructional resources to determine how well they align to the CCRS and identify ways that the instructional resources can be revised to improve alignment.
- On-Demand Module: Using the Math Resource Alignment Tool UPDATED
- On-Demand Module: Aligning Lessons to the College and Career Readiness Standards – Math
- Math Tool 1: Resource Alignment Tool UPDATED
- Math Tool 2: Math Content Progressions UPDATED
- Math Tool 3: Standards for Math Practices UPDATED
- Math Tool 3a: Math Practice Look-Fors UPDATED
- Math Tool 4: Major Work of the Level UPDATED
- Math Tool 4a: Major Work of the Level Worksheet (fillable PDF) (Word) UPDATED
- Math Tool 5: Lesson Revision Template (fillable PDF) UPDATED
- Math Tool 6: Checklist for Lesson Development (fillable PDF) UPDATED
- Facilitator Guide: Math Resource Alignment and Lesson Development, and Revision Facilitator Guide
By looking at the work that students complete on assignments, we are able to gather additional information about how well the students understood the content, how well they are meeting the standard, and how the assignment can be improved to help student mastery of new skills.
- On-Demand Module: Using Student Work to Assess College and Career Readiness Standards Alignment – Focusing on Assignments and Student Work UPDATED
- Tool: Student Work Protocol for Mathematics
- Resource: Guide for Choosing Assignments and Student Work
- Resource: Overview of Critical Friends
- Resource: Critical Friends Feedback Checklists
- Facilitator Guide: Math Student Work Protocol Facilitator Guide
The Lesson Study Protocol helps teachers refine their practice through a systematic analysis of the planning and execution of lessons.
- On-Demand Module: Lesson Study Protocol
- Math Tool 9: Math Lesson Study Protocol
- Resource: Overview of Critical Friends
- Resource: Critical Friends Feedback Checklists
English Language Arts (ELA)
The resources below are designed for instructors or tutors who have a good understanding of the CCRS and the Key Shifts and are ready to use them to plan standards-aligned English Language Arts lessons.
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) developed a process and tools that adult education practitioners can use to evaluate instructional resources to determine how well they align to the CCRS and identify ways that the instructional resources can be revised to improve alignment.
- On-Demand Module: Using the CCRS Resource Alignment Tools for ELA UPDATED
- On-Demand Module: Using the ELA Lesson Development and Revision Template UPDATED
- ELA Tool 1: Resource Alignment Tool
- ELA Tool 2 & 3: Text Complexity Quantitative Analysis Tool (PDF) (Word)
- ELA Tool 4: Checklist for Evaluating Question Quality
- ELA Tool 5: Checklist to Guide Lesson Development and Revision
- ELA Tool 6: Qualitative Analysis Rubric
- ELA Tool 7: Promoting the Volume of Reading (PDF) (Word)
- Resource: CCRS Text-Dependent Question Stems
- Advanced Self-Study: Guide to Creating Text-Dependent Questions from Achieve the Core
- Facilitator Guide: ELA Resource Alignment and Lesson Development, and Revision Facilitator Guide
By looking at the work that students complete on assignments, we are able to gather additional information about how well the students understood the content, how well they are meeting the standard, and how the assignment can be improved to help student mastery of new skills.
- On-Demand Module: Using Student Work to Assess College and Career Readiness Standards Alignment – Focusing on Assignments and Student Work UPDATED
- Tool: Student Work Protocol for English Language Arts/Literacy
- Resource: Guide for Choosing Assignments and Student Work
- Resource: Overview of Critical Friends
- Resource: Critical Friends Feedback Checklists
- Facilitator Guide: ELA Student Work Protocol Facilitator Guide
The Lesson Study Protocol helps teachers refine their practice through a systematic analysis of the planning and execution of lessons.
- On-Demand Module: Lesson Study Protocol
- ELA Tool 9: ELA Lesson Study Protocol
- Resource: Overview of Critical Friends Model
- Resource: Critical Friends Feedback Checklists
English as a Second Language (ESL)
The resources below are designed for instructors or tutors who have a good understanding of the CCRS and the Key Shifts and are ready to use them to plan standards-aligned English as a Second Language lessons.