Connecticut State Department of Education

Connecticut Core Standards

Family and Community

Why are academic standards important?

Students using computersCommon Core State Standards (CCSS) are being implemented in all public schools. These standards are a set of consistent, high-quality academic goals in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. The standards define the knowledge and skills all students should master by the end of each grade level in order to graduate from high school fully prepared to enter college and the workforce.

¿Por qué los estándares académicos son importantes?

El sistema Common Core State Standards (CCSS) se está implementando en todas las escuelas públicas. Estos estándares son un conjunto de objetivos académicos consistentes y de alta calidad en Las Artes del Lenguaje Inglés y Matemáticas. Los estándares definen los conocimientos y habilidades que todos los estudiantes deben dominar al final de cada grado para graduarse del colegio totalmente preparados para entrar a la universidad y a los lugares de trabajo. 

Understanding the standards

The resources included in this section will help parents who are interested in learning more about the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics

Comprensión de los estándares

Los recursos incluidos en esta sección ayudarán a padres interesados en aprender más sobre the Common Core State Standards en las Artes del Lenguaje Inglés y Matemáticas.

Smarter Balanced Parent Resources

This handout for parents about the new tests helps explain how the results will be different this year Smarter Balanced Parent Guide - English

A web-friendly version of the parent handout about the new test and the expected new results Smarter Balanced Parent Guide - Web Version

Connecticut State Department of Education Comprehensive Assessment Program Portal: Students & Families - This site provides links to General Information, Practice Tools and Tutorials to help parents and students better understand and prepare for the tests being implemented in Connecticut schools. 

SAT Resources

Resources for Helping Your Child

General Resources
  • Let’s Raise the Bar—Use these free resources to learn how your child is doing and what you can do to help. (America Achieves)
  • Be a Learning Hero - This website is designed to help parents navigate the changes happening in classrooms across the country. Resources and information from some of the nation’s most well-respected education and parent organizations including the National PTA, Common Sense Media and GreatSchools can be found here. (bealearninghero.org)
  • Fostering the Habit of Independent Reading – a March 21, 2016 blog by Stacy Kaczmarek that includes tips to help parents encourage their kids to develop their independent reading skills. (reading partners.org) 
  • 6 Tips for Setting up Your Home for Reading Success – a February 23, 2016 blog by Jenny Kellard who states, “Follow these 6 steps for reading aloud and your home will become an environment for reading success.” (readingpartners.org) 
  • 5 Easy Ways Parents can Increase their Child’s Reading Fluency – an October 14, 2015 blog by Martin Berk that explains how to develop a child’s ability to read fluently: a skill that enables a reader to read quickly, accurately, and with expression. (readingpartners.org) 
  • How to Learn Math: For Students is a free class for learners of all levels of mathematics. There are 6 sessions, the first three are approximately 10 minutes long and the last three approximately 20 minutes long. It combines really important information on the brain and learning with new evidence on the best ways to approach and learn math effectively. There are no prerequisites for this course. It comes in an English version and a Spanish version. (youcubed at Stanford University) 
  • Understood—This website offers resources for parents of children with learning and attention issues: state-of-the-art technology, personalized resources, free daily access to experts, a secure online community, practical tips and more. (understood.org)
  • Center for Parent Information Resources—This website serves as the new home of many of the resources developed by the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. (parentcenterhub.org)
  • The Center on Technology and Disability: This is a free, new resource for state and local education leaders that focuses on assistive and instructional technology and that supports learners with disabilities; it is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, OSEP. (ctdinstitute.org) 
  • Understanding Accessibility in Digital Learning Materials: Simply Said -- The National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials and PACER Center have released a video explaining Accessibility in Digital Learning Materials in easy to understand language. This fully-captioned video is designed to increase awareness of digital learning materials and how we can work together to increase the demand for accessible materials. (ctdinstitute.org/library) 
  • Apps for Kids with Special Needs and Learning Disabilities—If your child has a special need or learning difference, this website offers well-designed apps that were recommended and tested by field experts. Many of these apps can be downloaded for no cost.  (commonsensemedia.org)
  • iCONN—This comprehensive search engine provides all students and parents and with free online access to a wealth of essential library and information resources from trustworthy sources. It is freely accessible from every school, library, and home. Access from home requires a public library card. (iconn.org) 
  • Khan Academy—This site provides an extensive library of content for Grades K-12 in math, science topics such as biology, chemistry and physics, the humanities with playlists on finance and history. Students can practice at their own pace and make use of interactive challenges, and videos from any computer with access to the web. (khanacademy.org)
  • LearnZillion—This site offers brief video lessons that break down tricky concepts step-by-step.  The videos help both struggling learners, and those who are ready for more, to build their knowledge and understanding of concepts. (learnzillion.com)
English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Resources
  • Reading Rockets—This site offers many resources and activities that can help your child become an engaged reader, including literacy adventure packs, themed booklists, author interviews, nonfiction resources, summer reading suggestions and more. (readingrockets.org)
  • ¡Colorin Colorado!—Offered in English and Spanish, this award-winning bilingual site provides ways to help your child become a successful reader and writer with fun reading and writing tips, suggestions for choosing books to read with your child, and family literacy activities.  (ColorinColorado.org) 
  • Reading Tip Sheets for Parents – These one-page Reading Tip Sheets offer easy ways for parents to help kids become successful readers. Although these tips are divided by age, many of them can be used with children at various ages and stages — parents are encouraged to choose the ones that work best for their own child. On the website, the Tip Sheets are available in eleven languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Korean, Dine (Navajo), Russian, Tagalog, and Vietamese. (colorincolorado.org with support of the American Federation of Teachers) 
  • Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)—This website offers parents a variety of resources and activities to promote literacy, including tips on motivating children to read.  The monthly activity calendars provide literacy activities to engage your child. (rif.org)
  • Parent Roadmaps for CCSS: English Language Arts—These content and grade-specific parent roadmaps provide detailed information about the expectations of the Common Core in English Language Arts and Literacy. (Great City Schools) 
  • Parent Tips for Raising Strong Readers and Writers  (ReadingRockets.org, ColorínColorado.org, and LDOnline.org) 
  • Beginning Reads—This program helps teachers, parents and tutors connect student’s oral language knowledge with written language.  Each level has twelve 4-page books that share a set of concepts.  Each book is provided as a double-sided PDF ready for printing. (textproject.org)
  • PBS NewsHour video segment—“When it comes to reading, new report says start early” (PBS.org)
  • Storyline Online—Reading to children has been repeatedly shown to improve their reading, writing and communication skills. This site features celebrated actors reading popular stories aloud. (Screen Actors Guild and Entertainment Industry foundations)     
  • AdLit.org—With a variety of resources for parents of children in grades 4-12, this site offers: author interviews, themed booklists, and “in the classroom” video clips of good instructional practice. (adlit.org)    
  • ReadWriteThink—This website sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association has resources for parents that include writing activities, projects, podcasts, interactive websites to use for composing, and a variety of other resources. (readwritethink.org)     
  • Scholastic Book Wizard—Are you looking for just the right book for your child?  This web tool offers ready-made book lists, book talks, author studies, and videos, as well as a way to search for books according to reading level or similar to your child’s favorites. (scholastic.com/bookwizard/)
  • The International Children's Digital Library is a project of the ICDL Foundation in collaboration with the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Lab. The Foundation promotes tolerance and respect for diverse cultures by providing access to the best of children's literature from around the world in many languages. (en.childrenslibrary.org)
  • Project Gutenberg—This site offers over 46,000 free eBooks that can be downloaded or read online. (gutenberg.org)
  • SELA –This website provides students with high interest, nonfiction articles that are updated daily. Each article offers a choice of five different reading levels, making it just right for each child. (newsela.com)
  • Library of Congress for Kids website provides links on a wide range of topics for the whole family to explore together. It is especially targets young readers.  
  • Smithsonian for Kids - This site provides multiple links on a variety of topics to encourage kids to explore, discover and learn.    
  • National Gallery of Art - NGAkids Art Zone offers an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history. The website features computer-based activities, suitable for all age groups, that encourage exploration and creativity.  
Mathematics Resources