This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Marjorie Y. Lipson, Rachel Wadham, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Judy Jenkins, Nancy Frey, Denise N. Morgan, Julia L. Roberts, Terrie Rust, Jonathan Ostenson, and Erik W. Robelen.
(2012). The Role of Language and Literacy in College- and Career-Ready Standards: Rethinking Policy and Practice in Support of English Language Learners. Policy Brief, Alliance for Excellent Education. The Common Core State Standards spell out the sophisticated language competencies that students will need to perform in academic and technical subject areas. English language learners (ELLs) face a double challenge–they must learn grade-level content while simultaneously building their language proficiency. This policy brief discusses these challenges, highlights initiatives and strategies to advance ELLs' language and content learning, and outlines how policy and practice must change to help ELLs graduate ready for college and a career. [More] Descriptors: Core Curriculum, State Standards, Career Readiness, College Readiness
(2012). Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit, American Secondary Education. Advocates have long argued that an increased role for young adult literature in the classroom would help students' reading development. At first glance, the widely adopted Common Core State Standards might seem in opposition to an increased role for such literature. A closer examination of the common core documents suggests, however, that young adult literature could actually be a strong fit with these new standards. This article examines the Common Core's rationale for text selection and demonstrates how young adult literature, as an alternative or complement to the classics, can meet the expectations of the Common Core and provide meaningful literary experiences for students. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Adolescent Literature, Classics (Literature), Role
(2012). The Challenge of Challenging Text, Educational Leadership. The Common Core State Standards emphasize the value of teaching students to engage with complex text. But what exactly makes a text complex, and how can teachers help students develop their ability to learn from such texts? The authors of this article discuss five factors that determine text complexity: vocabulary, sentence structure, coherence, organization, and background knowledge. Teachers should not shrink from requiring their students to tackle complex text, the authors assert; rather, they should support students in mastering such text by building vocabulary and fluency, establishing a purpose for reading, and fostering motivation and persistence. [More] Descriptors: Sentence Structure, Reading Strategies, Reading Comprehension, Difficulty Level
(2012). Proactivity vs Reactivity: Preparing Students for Success with CCSS, Voices from the Middle. Wilhelm has studied the Common Core State Standards and come away with a generally positive opinion. His concern is that now that the Standards are written, we let professional teachers mold them into the best possible practices for teaching their students. With specific advice for working with students–developing background knowledge, making room for practice, frontloading lessons–Wilhelm gives us perspective on how to incorporate the standards into what we know about our students, urging us to be proactive in taking on that challenge. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Core Curriculum, Alignment (Education), Academic Achievement
(2012). Relations between the CCSS and RTI in Literacy and Language, Reading Teacher. Initiatives such as Response to Intervention (RTI) and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) have the potential to positively impact progress toward the goal of literacy for all. Because the CCSS-ELA will guide the content of the curriculum, instruction and assessment in the large number of adopting states, they will also have a significant impact on instruction and intervention within an RTI approach to teaching and learning in language and literacy. This column explores the implications of the CCSS-ELA for RTI in the areas of language and literacy with regard to definitions of success, perspectives on reading/literacy, instruction, and assessment. [More] Descriptors: Intervention, State Standards, Teaching Methods, Response to Intervention
(2012). Private Schools Opt for Common Core, Education Week. The common standards are not just for public schools. With all but four states having adopted them since 2010, districts have little choice but to implement the Common Core State Standards. But many private schools are also making the transition. Many Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and other private schools have adopted at least portions of the standards, in part for practical reasons. A number of leaders in private education emphasized that they adopted the common standards only after careful study and see them as worthy guideposts. Another issue for some leaders in private education is staying competitive with public schools. [More] Descriptors: Private Education, Private Schools, Christianity, Adoption (Ideas)
(2012). Supporting Collaboration between K-12 and Higher Education: Year One, Interim Report One. In April 2012, more than 100 educators and administrators from across the nation came together in Reston, Virginia, for a full day of meetings and discussions to launch the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center Affinity Network. The Affinity Network's mission is to facilitate students' successful transition from high school to college by: (1) Helping educators across the K-12 and postsecondary sectors understand and agree on common expectations for the nation's students; (2) Serving as an incubator for ideas and solutions for College Board members and for the education field at the institutional, state, and national levels; and (3) Establishing an ongoing process to encourage creative problem solving and strengthen the links between education sectors. Each year, one cohort of educators will be selected to work intently on one major issue for 9-12 months; at the end of this period, both a new cohort and a new issue will be selected. The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center is providing technical assistance, information, research, policy expertise, and facilitation, as well as an online forum to assist Affinity Network participants in their work together. This report is the first in a series to document the process, progress, and outcomes of the teams engaged in the first cohort of the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center Affinity Network. For this inaugural cohort, College Board Advocacy assembled strong teams drawn from 15 institutions (districts, two-year, and four-year colleges) in five states. They are dedicated to addressing the initial charge: how the Common Core State Standards will result in changes in expectations and alignment across the education sectors. This will not be an easy endeavor, but it is an extremely important one if the nation is going to prepare all students to be college and career ready. The Affinity Network will focus on the following key questions: (1) How might the Common Core State Standards result in improvements to the alignment of high school exit expectations with postsecondary entry expectations? What supports need to be in place to successfully accomplish this alignment?; and (2) How might the Common Core State Standards affect the design of remedial education courses on college campuses? Appended are: (1) The Affinity Network Advisory Committee; and (2) Cross-Segment Challenges and Opportunities of the Common Core State Standards. (Contains 11 notes. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Postsecondary Education, Cooperation, Social Support Groups
(2015). Leading Change for the Implementation of Common Core State Standards in Rural School Districts, Education Leadership Review of Doctoral Research. Rural school districts across the nation, with their limited resources, face daunting challenges posed by the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. This article presents a recent study of 13 rural school districts in the Central Valley of California and how these districts are responding to those challenges. A total of 352 teachers and 36 administrators responded to the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), which measured the concerns of respondents associated with CCSS implementation. Qualitative responses by administrators to questions relating to concerns and leadership approaches associated with CCSS implementation were also analyzed. Major findings were that teachers were mostly concerned about their own personal efforts of CCSS implementation while administrators were more concerned about collaborative processes involved with implementation. Also teachers in their first years of service generally had greater perceived levels of concern at all levels. Recommendations included continuous data collection and assessment of the implementation with greater efforts at communicating findings and next steps for all stakeholders utilizing a blend of instructional and distributed leadership. [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Educational Change, Rural Schools, School Districts
(2012). Teacher's Survival Guide: Differentiating Instruction in the Elementary Classroom, Prufrock Press Inc. "Teacher's Survival Guide: Differentiating Instruction in the Elementary Classroom" answers the most common questions about differentiation, including what it is, how teachers can set up a classroom that promotes differentiation, which topics should be differentiated, what strategies are most effective, and how teachers can assess students engaged in different classroom experiences. Each chapter provides proven differentiation strategies along with examples of their use in elementary classrooms. From 21st-century learning to the Common Core State Standards to established differentiation models, this resource will guide teachers of children in grades K-5 to successfully differentiate instruction for all of their students. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Individualized Instruction, Classroom Techniques, Guides
(2012). The Power and Potential of Primary Sources, Reading Teacher. Using primary sources with students has untapped potential for expanding and deepening the reading experiences of elementary and middle grade students. Primary sources expands teachers' palette of reading materials, allows students to connect more closely to topics for learning, and deepens their understanding of the past. This article argues for the inclusion of more primary sources as a way to expand students' world knowledge and develop their critical thinking skills. In addition, using primary sources is one way to support teachers in meeting the new common core state standards. Benefits of using primary sources and how to analyze primary documents are highlighted. Ideas for primary source collections and working with students are shared. [More] Descriptors: Reading Materials, State Standards, Primary Sources, Thinking Skills
(2012). The Principal as Curriculum Leader, Principal Leadership. Today's reform landscape transcends instructional leadership and data-based decision-making skills. This is not to say that those behaviors are not essential to a principal's success, but they no longer suffice. Principals do not need to be curriculum experts, but they do need to lead their schools with full knowledge of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the new assessments tied to those standards, and the rigor embedded in both. Principals have an integral role in leading the transition to the CCSS in their schools. To effectively transition to the CCSS-based curriculum, principals must become curriculum leaders. [More] Descriptors: Expertise, State Standards, Instructional Leadership, Principals
(2013). Mathematical Modeling, Sense Making, and the Common Core State Standards, Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College. On October 14, 2013 the Mathematics Education Department at Teachers College hosted a full-day conference focused on the Common Core Standards Mathematical Modeling requirements to be implemented in September 2014 and in honor of Professor Henry Pollak's 25 years of service to the school. This article is adapted from my talk at this conference covering Mathematical Modeling in the Common Core, what it means for educators as we move toward this future reality, and what we can do to succeed in this brave new world. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Education, Common Core State Standards, Mathematical Models, Teaching Methods
(2012). Technology and Engineering Education and the Common Core Standards, Technology and Engineering Teacher. The nearly unanimous state acceptance of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) jolted many teachers out of their complacency. How was this major change going to impact their teaching and their curriculum? What changes would be made in student assessments and teacher accountability? The good news is that technology and engineering teachers have been doing things "right" for a long time. There is not as great a cause for concern for technology and engineering education educators for CCSS implementation, as this article will explain. The article also provides a brief history of the CCSS initiative and discusses key points about the CCSS. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Accountability, Engineering Education, Engineering
(2012). Build Skills by Doing History, Phi Delta Kappan. No Child Left Behind has profoundly limited the teaching of history over the past 10 years. Now, the Common Core State Standards offers an opportunity to reverse this decline by giving history a more prominent place in the school curriculum alongside literacy goals. Learning history and argumentative writing is key to developing analytical ways of thinking that prepare students for college, career, and democratic life. The good news is that schools can achieve both of these goals with the same effort. Learning history can lead to literacy gains if students learn by doing history. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, United States History, History Instruction, Curriculum
(2012). Smarter Balanced and Higher Education: Preparing Young People for Postsecondary Success. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is creating next-generation assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts/literacy and mathematics. With more than 40 states implementing the CCSS, the Smarter Balanced assessment system will allow states to certify that students have the knowledge and skills to meet the requirements of entry-level, credit-bearing postsecondary courses in these key subject areas. The Smarter Balanced assessment system–including summative and interim assessments and formative resources for teachers–will measure progress toward college- and career-readiness, providing accurate information about what students know before entering college. [More] Descriptors: Core Curriculum, State Standards, Alignment (Education), English