This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Sandra N. Kaplan, Dario Sforza, Kristin S. Stair, Eunyoung Kim, Nancy S. Gardner, Judith K. March, Vicki Stewart Collet, Ginney Patricia Wright, Jamie Colwell, and Nicole Smith.
(2014). Toolkit for Evaluating Alignment of Instructional and Assessment Materials to the Common Core State Standards. In joint partnership, Achieve, The Council of Chief State School Officers, and Student Achievement Partners have developed a Toolkit for Evaluating the Alignment of Instructional and Assessment Materials to the Common Core State Standards. The Toolkit is a set of interrelated, freely available instruments for evaluating alignment to the CCSS; each tool in the Toolkit supports the expectations in the CCSS and derives from the Publishers' Criteria for the Common Core State Standards. The toolkit was originally released in July 2013 and updated in August 2014. The Publishers Criteria for the Common Core State Standards is appended. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Alignment (Education), Evaluation Criteria, Evaluation Methods
(2014). The Potential of Digital Technologies to Support Literacy Instruction Relevant to the Common Core State Standards, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Digital tools have the potential to transform instruction and promote literacies outlined in the Common Core State Standards. Empirical research is examined to illustrate this potential in grades 6-12 instruction. [More] Descriptors: Literacy, Reading Instruction, Academic Standards, State Standards
(2016). The Common Core State Standards and the Role of Instructional Materials: A Case Study on EdReports.org, Online Submission. The purpose of this study was to review research studies investigating the role of instructional materials in relation to the Common Core State Standards and to evaluate whether a new organisation, EdReports.org, founded to evaluate the alignment of instructional materials to the Common Core State Standards, has achieved its objectives. Content analysis was used to analyse the subject matter of reports on the research studies. A decision-oriented evaluation model was used to analyse the decision process, decision-making setting, decision model and types of decisions in the change process within EdReports.org. The results showed that the research studies have produced important findings concerning the role of instructional materials in relation to the Common Core State Standards and EdReports.org has attained its objectives in successfully developing and diffusing a program to evaluate the alignment of instructional materials to the Common Core State Standards. The conclusion recommends that policymakers in other educational settings should consider whether its operating system provides a valid model for creating a program to evaluate the alignment of instructional materials to academic standards. [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Instructional Materials, Case Studies, Content Analysis
(2015). Telling the Truth about the Common Core, Phi Delta Kappan. The authors take on myths and misinformation about the Common Core State Standards and seek to tell the positive ways in which the standards work to move education. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Elementary Secondary Education, Adoption (Ideas)
(2016). Teachers' Views of the Common Core State Standards and Its Implementation, Educational Review. Common Core State Standards are embroiled in controversy and politics. The need to continue to study the many facets of educational changes remains critical, especially from the perspective of the teachers experiencing such changes firsthand. Existing surveys of teacher perceptions regarding the Common Core State Standards have focused primarily on teacher awareness, preparedness and opinions regarding the quality of the Common Core State Standards and curricular alignment. This survey study addressed teachers' views and support towards the Common Core State Standards and its implementation, their anticipated effects, and how its operation has affected their teaching, their anticipated effects, and their thoughts to leave the profession prematurely. Comparisons were made between teacher groups based on grade-level taught and years of experience. Overall, teachers had a positive attitude towards the Common Core State Standards and its implementation. Attitudes tended to be more negative as grade-level taught increased and were significantly less favorable for those with thoughts of leaving the profession early; responses varied among teachers with differing lengths of experience. [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Teacher Attitudes, Program Implementation, Educational Change
(2013). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics: Teacher Self-Learning Series. Module 1: Introduction to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics–The Need, the Development Process, the Common Languages, and the Structure. This module provides background information and presents the new terminology used in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). Educators should complete this module to understand the need for common standards, determine information about who developed the Standards, and learn the terminology and the coding used in the CCSSM. An article written by the CCSSM authors also provides insight into and reasons for the structure of the standards. Understanding the coding and the terminology is needed for lesson planning. Course Objectives: By the end of the module, learner will be able to: (1) cite reasons for having Common Core State Standards; (2) identify the process under which the Common Core State Standards were developed; (3) define and use terminology found in the Common Core State Standards; and (4) decode a Common Core State Standard for Mathematics. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Education, Academic Standards, State Standards, Benchmarking
(2016). Engaging Minds in the Common Core: Integrating Standards for Student Engagement, Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. With the implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) many teachers continue to search for ways to engage students in the learning process while meeting the rigorous demands of the standards. Researchers suggest that by providing opportunities for higher order thinking, student choice, and creative ways to showcase knowledge, students will find engagement and motivation in the classroom. Many teachers of adolescent students struggle with ways to integrate these approaches while meeting the standards. The purpose of this article is to provide examples of engaging literacy strategies that focus on the Common Core State Standards for middle and high school students. [More] Descriptors: Learner Engagement, Common Core State Standards, Literacy, Literacy Education
(2014). Inquiry, New Literacies, and the Common Core, Kappa Delta Pi Record. For 21st century learning, students need to be well versed in techniques for inquiry using new literacies. Developing these skills also will meet the rigorous expectations of the Common Core State Standards. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Inquiry, Multiple Literacies, Technology Uses in Education
(2014). Advocacy: Emphasizing the Uncommon about the Common Core State Standards, Gifted Child Today. The author describes key issues and uncommon concerns about the Common Core State Standards that fit within two categories: philosophical and pedagogical. Philosophically, Common Core State K-12 Standards should not be expected to be mastered at a specific grade level but based on developmental readiness. Pedagogically, Common Core State Standards need to be taught using inquiry or discovery, and independent study strategies, rather than direct instructional strategies. [More] Descriptors: Academically Gifted, Advocacy, State Standards, Academic Standards
(2016). A Comparison of Higher-Order Thinking between the Common Core State Standards and the 2009 New Jersey Content Standards in High School, AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice. The creators and supporters of the Common Core State Standards claim that the Standards require greater emphasis on higher-order thinking than previous state standards in mathematics and English language arts. We used a qualitative case study design with content analysis methods to test the claim. We compared the levels of thinking required by the Common Core State Standards for grades 9-12 in English language arts and math with those required by the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards in grades 9-12 English language arts and math (used prior to the Common Core) using Webb's Depth of Knowledge framework to categorize the level of thinking required by each standard. Our results suggest that a higher percentage of the 2009 New Jersey high school curriculum standards in English language arts and math prompted higher-order thinking than the 2010 Common Core State Standards for those same subjects and grade levels. Recommendations for school administrative practice are provided. [More] Descriptors: Thinking Skills, Common Core State Standards, State Standards, High Schools
(2011). The Common Core State Standards Initiative: an Overview, Online Submission. The purpose of this study was to evaluate decision making in the Common Core State Standards Initiative as the change process moved from research, development and diffusion activities to adoption of the Common Core State Standards by the states. A decision-oriented evaluation model was used to describe the four stages of planning, structuring, implementing and recycling decisions in the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Content analysis and survey methods were used to analyse literature referring to the Common Core State Standards and to obtain verification of information reported on the Common Core State Standards from officials of national organisations and state education agencies. The results showed that planning, structuring and implementing decisions were effective in producing Common Core State Standards that satisfied the expectations of most stakeholders, but recycling decisions needed to modify the Common Core State Standards Initiative remain unresolved. Awareness about a lack of agreement between what standards-based education is intended to be and what it actually is led policy makers to determine that common standards offered a solution to this problem. The setting for decision making in attaining this solution involved attempting a large change supported by a low understanding of how to accomplish the change. This setting required the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to design an action plan for programming the segments of research, development, diffusion and adoption of the Common Core State Standards in advance. Decisions about the extent, to which the desired ends of the Common Core State Standards Initiative have been attained, have focused attention on determining a new governance structure. All of the states, except for Alaska and Texas, joined the Common Core State Standards Initiative by signing a memorandum of agreement. By July 2011, all of the participating states, except for Montana, Nebraska and Virginia, had adopted the Common Core State Standards formally or provisionally. State profiles for each of these states describe the process of adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards by referring to plans for teacher development, curriculum alignment, instructional materials selection, assessment alignment, and accountability systems design. The results showed that effective decision making in planning, structuring and implementing the Common Core State Standards Initiative led most of the participating states to adopt the Common Core State Standards readily, and to initiate plans for implementation by aligning state standards and curriculum to the Common Core State Standards and to provide professional development for educators. [More] Descriptors: Curriculum Development, State Schools, State Standards, Governance
(2015). Frequently Asked Questions: Common Core State Standards Initiative. The document provides answers to some of the frequently asked questions about the Common Core State Standards, from how they were developed to what they mean for states and local communities. The questions are organized into the following categories: (1) Overview; (2) Process; (3) Implementation and Future Work; and (4) Content and Quality of the Standards. [More] [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, State Standards, Elementary Secondary Education, Program Implementation
(2016). A Qualitative Analysis of Teachers' Perceptions of Common Core State Standards in Agricultural Education, Journal of Agricultural Education. After the implementation of No Child Left Behind in 2002, national educational standards reform has supported the idea that improvements in education can result from rigorous standards that uniformly evaluate learning. Educational assessment, however, is under increased scrutiny and teachers, students, as well as educational policy makers struggle to balance curriculum reforms. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to determine the perceptions of agricultural education teachers regarding implementing Common Core State Standards in their programs. Data were collected through five structured interviews conducted with agricultural education instructors adopting the Common Core State Standards curriculum within their classrooms and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Overall, teachers were positive about the implementation of Common Core State Standards in their programs; however, teachers acknowledged challenges to implementing these standards, including a sense of voicelessness and complacency. Teachers also expressed a perception of helplessness with the ever-changing cycle of educational initiatives. [More] Descriptors: Qualitative Research, Common Core State Standards, Grounded Theory, Educational Policy
(2016). Math and ELA Meet at the Common Core, Phi Delta Kappan. Math and English language arts seem such disparate content areas but the Common Core State Standards actually draw out their similarities in the teaching and learning process. Both require students to learn grit and perseverance; both ask students to use reasons or evidence to support arguments; both require precision; both require structures to be analyzed; and both require tools to be used strategically. [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Learning Processes, Teaching Methods, Language Arts
(2014). One Thousand Words, Plus a Few More, Is Just Right, Phi Delta Kappan. The advent of the Common Core State Standards has already begun to affect curriculum and instruction by embracing writing not only in English language arts but in science and technical subjects as well. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Writing Instruction, Writing Skills