Common Core State Standards for Reading place an increased emphasis on non-fiction text, citing evidence from text, and questions (by both teachers and students) that go well beyond personal experience and delve into authors point of view (CCSS Reading Anchor Standard 6) and main ideas and themes (CCSS Anchor Standard 2). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics place increased emphasis on rigor, including going deeper rather than covering more, having students apply their mathematical knowledge to the real world, and ensuring that students are given the opportunity to write or speak about their understanding of mathematical content. CCSS Walk Through is designed to help school leaders and teachers collect evidence that these changes are happening in their classrooms.
The intuitive and easy to use Common Core Walk-Through app is designed by an educator for school leaders and teachers to collect evidence and provide feedback on the implementation of the Common Core instructional strategies. School leaders and teachers can also use this observation tool to record the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level for the lesson and to make observations on the alignment and rigor of the lesson. This tool, which includes questions on Common Core Mathematics and English Language Arts shifts, is intuitive and quick to use. The classroom observations are summarized in elegant reports that can be emailed directly from the iPad.
The primary user of the iPad creates a profile when the app is initially launched. The profile includes an email address and password. The app requires the user to login each time the app is launched, which ensures a high level of security for the data collected. The primary user of the iPad may also assign peer user accounts.
School leaders and teachers complete classroom observations using this tool that collects data on the level of engagement of students, whether objectives posted, whether the lesson being conducted is aligned and rigorous, and whether instruction is meeting the diverse needs of the students.