This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include George S. Denny, Temple A. Walkowiak, Byeong-Young Cho, Donna Wilson, Colleen Pennell, Ginney P. Wright, Jo Beth Jimerson, J. Matt Switzer, Timothy Shanahan, and Jade Wexler.
(2015). Implementing an Evidence-Based Instructional Routine to Enhance Comprehension of Expository Text, Intervention in School and Clinic. To graduate from high school and become competitive in the workplace and other postsecondary endeavors, adolescents are required to meet rigorous standards, such as the Common Core State Standards. To meet such standards, teachers must teach students to read and make sense of increasingly complex content-area expository text. Secondary teachers, however, face several challenges that make it difficult to prepare students adequately to read and comprehend content-area text. In this article, a practical evidence-based reading strategy instructional routine to enhance adolescent students' comprehension of expository text is presented. [More] Descriptors: Expository Writing, Enrichment Activities, Curriculum Implementation, Evidence
(2015). Conceptualizing and Assessing Higher-Order Thinking in Reading, Theory Into Practice. Students engage in higher-order thinking as they read complex texts and perform complex reading-related tasks. However, the most consequential assessments, high-stakes tests, are currently limited in providing information about students' higher-order thinking. In this article, we describe higher-order thinking in relation to reading. We provide a framework for understanding higher-order thinking in reading, in relation to relevant theories and research in reading, and standards and assessment initiatives. We conclude with the considerations in assessments of higher-order thinking in reading that can help teachers and students work toward attainment of the Common Core State Standards. [More] Descriptors: Thinking Skills, Reading Skills, Difficulty Level, Reading Comprehension
(2014). The Common Core State Standards: School Reform at Three Suburban Middle Schools, ProQuest LLC. A growing body of research supports the idea that large scale school reform efforts often fail to create sustained change within the public school sector. Proponents of school reform argue that implementing school reform, effectively and with fidelity, can work to ensure the success of reform initiatives in public education. When implementing deep organizational change, both novice and veteran educators are challenged to learn new skills, reexamine their instructional practice and content knowledge, and re-shape their underlying beliefs and values about schools. The ways in which principals frame school reform initiatives and broker knowledge for their teachers can also aid teachers in both collective and individual understanding while supporting teacher's application of reform concepts. By supporting both individual and collective sense-making for teachers, principals can build and sustain networks of teacher learning and sound implementation of reform. This dissertation investigated the importance of principal leadership and how information regarding the Common Core State Standards reform flowed both to the principal and from the principal to the teachers. This research also examined the educational and professional background of each participant-principal. The Common Core State Standards seek to minimize variance in K-12 curriculum across the United States by aligning grade level content expectations and increasing rigor. The Standards also require adjustments by instructional practitioners to target critical learning targets and to increase the depth at which they are taught. This study assessed the assertion that principal leadership practices impact what key elements of reform individual principals frame and how three middle school principals constructed teacher knowledge. The research reported here is a multi-case study developed through qualitative methods over a period of seven months. Primary data collection was accomplished through a series of three interviews with each of three public, suburban middle school principals in a mid-western state. The first stage of this study examined each principal's background and educational experience. It aimed to create a profile of the individual principal and to identify any relationship between principal experience and perception of the Common Core State Standards reform. The second stage investigated how these three principals received information and built professional knowledge about the Common Core State Standards. The last stage sought to identify how these principals organized and disseminated Common Core State Standards information for teachers within their building and how they prepared their staff for adaptive change. This study also included a review of the documents that these principals used to both garner information about the Common Core State Standards and to disseminate information to staff members. Additionally, this study yielded secondary data for the analysis and triangulation with primary data. Transcriptions of interview data and field notes, along with interpretive comments of the researcher, were checked for validity with each participant. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, State Standards, Educational Change, Suburban Schools
(2015). Catching up to the CCSS: A Principal Navigates Out-of-Subject Instructional Leadership, Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. This case provides principals and principal licensure candidates an opportunity to delve into the nuances of supervising teachers in content areas, which may be unfamiliar, and to explore strategies for increasing knowledge about the structures and emphases of the "Common Core State Standards" (CCSS). The case presents issues related to curriculum, instructional leadership strategies, professional learning networks, and supervision and evaluation of teachers. It can also be a springboard for connecting principals and licensure candidates with resources to deepen familiarity with best practice research in mathematics instruction. [More] Descriptors: Instructional Leadership, Academic Standards, State Standards, Principals
(2015). In the Age of Analytic Reading: Understanding Readers' Engagement with Text, Reading Teacher. Teaching children to inquire, discuss ideas, and defend thinking about a literary text is a key aim of the common core state standards (CCSS). This article describes how four third-grade, male struggling readers successfully co-constructed meaning during a discussion based reading intervention rooted in philosophical inquiry. Three elements that guided reading development are closely examined: dialogic discourse, the fluidity of the text, and reader's experiential knowledge. In the age of the CCSS, considerations for transactional reading theory and dialogic teaching are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Reader Text Relationship, Reading, Reading Skills, Reading Strategies
(2015). A High School Statistics Class Investigates the Death Penalty, Mathematics Teacher. Recommendations for reforming high school mathematics curricula emphasize the importance of engaging students in mathematical investigations of societal issues (CCSSI [Common Core State Standards Initiative] 2010; NCTM [National Council of Teachers of Mathematics] 2000). Proponents argue that these investigations can positively influence students' social awareness and their perceptions of the use of mathematics for understanding societal problems (Frankenstein 1997; Gutstein 2006; Skovsmose 1994). In this article, I share results from my analysis of high school students' experiences as they participated in an investigation of racial bias and the death penalty. Although this classroom investigation took place about ten years ago, the lessons from students' experiences are still relevant today. [More] Descriptors: Secondary School Mathematics, High Schools, Mathematics Curriculum, Statistics
(2015). What Teachers Should Know about Common Core: A Guide for the Perplexed, Reading Teacher. In 2010, more than 40 states adopted the Common Core State Standards. Initially, the standards were quickly and easily embraced, but over the past year the standards have become enmeshed in various controversies, raising many questions about how the standards were written and what they include. This article attempts to provide authoritative answers to those questions. It explains the federal role in the standards writing and adoption, the sources of the standards, and the rationale for developing them. It also explores instructional issues dealing with the role of literature, phonics instruction, text complexity, and student motivation. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Government Role, Policy Formation
(2015). California's First Year with Local Control Finance and Accountability, Education Policy Analysis Archives. In 2013, Governor Jerry Brown and the California legislature radically restructured the state's school funding system and accountability systems with a weighted student formula and a mandated local planning process in each district. The new law substitutes local politics and grassroots agency for state-driven mandates and compliance reviews. While the Local Control Funding Formula has had immediate impact, early evaluations suggest that districts like the new system and are earnest in their implementation efforts, but it will take years to assess the effect of the multi-indicator Local Control Accountability Plans. Simultaneously, the state is implementing the Common Core State Standards and the associated Smarter Balanced [More] Descriptors: Accountability, Funding Formulas, Finance Reform, Educational Finance
(2015). Using Genre Pedagogy to Teach Adolescent English Learners to Write Academic Persuasive Essays, Journal of Education. The new "Common Core State Standards" (CCSS) (NGACBP & CCSSO, 2010) require teachers to prepare all learners, including adolescent English learners (ELs), to develop academic literacy practices. This article describes an instructional intervention in an urban public high school using the genre-based "Reading to Learn" (Rose & Martin, 2012) approach to teach 20 adolescent ELs to write academic persuasive essays. Results indicated a significant increase from pretest to posttest in participants' effective use of key academic linguistic resources that function to create persuasion, suggesting that the "Reading to Learn" approach may support adolescent ELs' development of academic literacy practices. [More] Descriptors: Persuasive Discourse, Academic Discourse, Essays, Adolescents
(2015). Common Core and the Uncommon Learner: How Autism Affects Acquisition of Common Core State Standards, Contemporary School Psychology. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS 2014a, b) are here to stay. State and local education agencies are responsible for ensuring that schools teach all students the core standards that they will need in college and the work force. However, the ever-growing population of students on the autism spectrum has unique learning needs which may make it more difficult for them to achieve these standards. This article examines the core characteristics of autism as they are described in the California Code of Regulations (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004), the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (APA 2013), and current theories. These characteristics will be held up to the CCSS to identify areas of potential deficit and to explore interventions, accommodations, and modifications designed to enhance access to the general curriculum. These supports are aimed at allowing uncommon learners on the autism spectrum who require minimal support, substantial support, and very substantial support to achieve Common Core State Standards alongside their typically developing peers. [More] Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Academic Standards, State Standards
(2015). Information Is a Common Core Dish Best Served First, Phi Delta Kappan. There has been a spike in negative comments about mathematics and standards since the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Regardless of whether the comments are fueled by social media or traditional media, educators need to be armed with strategies for helping parents understand, navigate, and embrace the Common Core's mathematics content and practices. In this article, the author outlines three strategies and accompanying action steps that can help school leaders and teachers to be proactive rather than reactive when addressing parent concerns about the Common Core math standards. While the examples in this article are embedded in elementary mathematics, the strategies and action steps apply to all K-12 settings. [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, State Standards, Alignment (Education), Mathematics Education
(2015). Problem Solvers: Teacher Leader Teams with Content Specialist to Strengthen Math Instruction, Journal of Staff Development. In early November 2013, the authors started talking about visiting the Hurley School, a dual-language school in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hurley School had spent considerable time transitioning to the Common Core State Standards on literacy, but little time addressing the shifts in math. They worried that math classes were no longer rigorous enough to meet these more demanding standards. In this aritcle, a district math content specialist and a teacher leader use classroom observations to pinpoint strengths and challenges in math instruction, followed by common planning time that focuses learning around the results. [More] Descriptors: Problem Solving, Teacher Leadership, Specialists, Teamwork
(2015). Practices and Benefits of Reading in the Mathematics Curriculum, Journal of Urban Mathematics Education. In the past several years, especially with the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, emphasis has been placed on connectivity among different academic subjects as well as between those subjects and the world. Simultaneously, there has been an increasing trend toward examination questions that are wordier and require more thinking and unpacking of the concept (McTighe & Wiggins, 2014). The purpose of this public story is to elaborate on some classroom techniques that might assist students in becoming comfortable and more successful with interpreting and answering text-based mathematics questions. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Curriculum, Reading Instruction, Mathematics Instruction, Common Core State Standards
(2015). Smart Moves: Powering up the Brain with Physical Activity, Phi Delta Kappan. The Common Core State Standards emphasize higher-order thinking, problem solving, and the creation, retention, and application of knowledge. Achieving these standards creates greater cognitive demands on students. Recent research suggests that active play and regular exercise have a positive effect on brain regions associated with executive function, learning, and memory, thus increasing student achievement. Physical activity increases production of neurotransmitters that support learning readiness; oxygen flow, which facilitates healthy brain functioning, and the brain chemical BDNF, which enhances creation of neurons and synapses. The authors share practical pathways to increase the positive effect of physical activity for students of all ages. [More] Descriptors: Physical Activities, Play, Brain, Academic Achievement
(2015). Robots Teaching Other Little Robots: Neoliberalism, CCSS, and Teacher Professionalism, Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies. Recent quantitative research on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in schools across Arkansas has discovered that teachers' perceptions of job satisfaction, agency, and professionalism are significantly affected by their school leaders' openness towards autonomy, flexibility, and opinions of teachers (Matlock et al. 2015). The purpose of this article is to expand upon these findings by drawing upon survey and interview data collected from a stratified sample of teachers in a mid-southern state to qualitatively examine the effect CCSS have on teachers' perceptions of their agency and professionalism. The authors then present a contrasting view of teachers' positive perceptions that describe circumstances of teacher autonomy and professional agency. [More] Descriptors: Neoliberalism, Common Core State Standards, Professionalism, Teacher Attitudes