Linking the Common Core Standards of Mathematical Practice to Exemplars Rubric

By: Ross Brewer, Ph.D., Exemplars President

If your school or district is preparing for the integration of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into its mathematics curriculum, Exemplars materials are a great bridge. Our problem-solving tasksrubrics and anchor papers can help with the transition and aid in preparing your staff.

As many of you know, the CCSS for Mathematics are divided into two parts, the “Content Standards” and the “Standards of Mathematical Practice.” The Standards of Mathematical Practice describe the ways “student practitioners of the discipline of mathematics increasingly ought to engage with the subject matter as they grow in mathematical maturity and expertise throughout the elementary, middle and high school years.” (p.8)

There are eight Standards of Mathematical Practice.

  1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
  3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
  4. Model with mathematics.
  5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
  6. Attend to precision.
  7. Look for and make use of structure.
  8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

To help teachers see the connection between the Exemplars Standard Rubric and the Common Core, we have created the following alignment documents:

Which alignment one uses will depend on the intended purpose of the user. Exemplars mathematics tasks are also aligned to the CCSS Content Standards. These alignments can be found here.

We hope that by making these resources available, you will see the natural fit between Exemplars and the CCSS.

How is your school or district preparing for the Common Core in math?