This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Pamela D. Wash, Ellen Ullman, Mike Rush, Karen Elizabeth Lafferty, Marci Glaus, Luis Perea, Gabriel T. Matney, Greta G. Freeman, Bill East, and Roger S. Frantz.
(2014). The Battle for Higher Standards, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. To remain internationally competitive, states needed clearer, higher, and comparable K-12 learning standards aligned with college and career expectations, and as ambitious as those of the countries that lead the world in education. Idaho's old academic standards were not preparing students for postsecondary education, which contributed to the state's low go-on rates and its colleges' high remediation and drop-out rates. To address these issues, a coalition of leaders from K-12, higher education, business, and government have prevented the state of Idaho from withdrawing from its commitment to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and assessments. Some key results have been the development of a statewide regional infrastructure that successfully implemented higher standards in math and English/language arts, and professional development for teachers. This took the efforts of a broad group of stakeholders and continues to help policymakers stay the course, making Idaho a case study of successful CCSS implementation and public-policy creation. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, State Policy, State Programs, Academic Achievement
(2014). Text Complexity and Young Adult Literature: Establishing Its Place, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Preparing students for college and careers in the 21st century has shed light on text complexity as an important variable for consideration in English Language Arts. Authors of The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) define text complexity as broad, highlighting qualitative, rather than quantitative evaluations of narrative fiction as appropriate for matching readers with texts. The text exemplar list published in the appendices of the CCSS, does not include contemporary works of young adult literature. Young adult literature can be used in English Language Arts classrooms to fulfill the expectations of the CCSS while meeting the appropriate qualitative evaluations of texts students in middle and high school grades are expected to read. This article examines qualitative evaluations of three works of young adult literature that are not only textually complex as defined by authors of the CCSS, but appropriate and engaging for adolescent identity and development. [More] Descriptors: Adolescent Literature, Academic Standards, State Standards, Language Arts
(2014). State Standard-Setting Processes in Brief. State Academic Standards: Standard-Setting Processes, Education Commission of the States. Concerns about academic standards, whether created by states from scratch or adopted by states under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) banner, have drawn widespread media attention and are at the top of many state policymakers' priority lists. Recently, a number of legislatures have required additional steps, such as waiting periods for public comment, that state education leaders must follow, and ECS anticipates that the 2015 sessions will see continued debate on this issue. This brief describes state standard-setting processes and provides profiles of eight states' standard-setting and review processes, as well as the measures used by those states to validate their standards. Appendix A provides historical context around standard setting and the evolution of state standards. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Debate, State Legislation
(2014). A Literature Review on Disciplinary Literacy: How Do Secondary Teachers Apprentice Students Into Mathematical Literacy?, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Current adolescent literacy rates cause concerns at the number of students who graduate high school with basic or below-basic reading skills. The Common Core State Standards promote disciplinary literacy, which presents advanced literacy skills embedded in content area instruction. Disciplinary literacy is argued as a way to raise adolescent literacy rates. This literature review examines how Discourse theory frames disciplinary literacy as an apprenticeship model, and how instruction in mathematical Discourses focuses on communication and reasoning at the secondary level. Mathematical standards are analyzed for literacy features, and then studies of secondary mathematics classrooms are reviewed in light of these features. The review is offered to help mathematics teachers and literacy specialists build a shared knowledge base of mathematical literacy in secondary classrooms. [More] Descriptors: Secondary School Teachers, Numeracy, State Standards, Discourse Analysis
(2014). The Next Step: Partnering with K-12 Schools to Prepare Students for the Rigors of College Work, Community College Journal. Teachers dedicate their lives to working with students, but also in learning from each other. In programs around the Spokane, Washington area of the U.S., teachers have been meeting with the intention of strengthen connections and smooth transitions between K-12 schools and institutions of higher education in alignment with expectations for the "Common Core State Standards" and to discuss the implications for remediation. In addition to reviewing curricula with colleagues, participating instructors at the K–12 and higher education levels are working to update community college placement processes. In this article, Ellen Ullman provides a look at how some community colleges are working with K-12 schools to align reforms for improved results. [More] Descriptors: Community Colleges, College School Cooperation, College Readiness, Elementary Secondary Education
(2014). "What Are You Reading?": How School Libraries Can Promote Racial Diversity in Multicultural Literature, Multicultural Perspectives. While many educators state beliefs about the importance of selecting fiction that will engage a diverse student population, use of multicultural titles in secondary classrooms has lagged, in part due to increasing focus on the Common Core State Standards in the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine if high school students in a Southern California district were using school libraries to access multicultural literature characterized by racial diversity. Four years of circulation data from the district's five comprehensive high schools were examined. Analysis revealed that the titles with the highest circulation were overwhelmingly written by White authors and about White protagonists. Suggested are ways that educators can use resources within school libraries to promote more racially diverse multicultural literature, even as classroom titles remain static. Included are recommendations for how teachers and teacher-librarians can encourage students to select from a wider range of texts, as well as guidance on conducting a circulation analysis. [More] Descriptors: Cultural Pluralism, School Libraries, High School Students, School Districts
(2014). The Changing Science Curriculum, College Student Journal. Science, as a curriculum area, has gone through many changes recently with the oncoming of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), as well as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Science is a part of everyday life which individuals experience. Even the drying up of a puddle of water after a rainfall has a definite scientific explanation. A modern science curriculum must be in the offing for each pupil in the school setting. In this article, Marlow Ediger describes elements he feels are conducive to developing an effective science curriculum. They include: (1) inquiry learning; (2) reflection; (3) experimentation; and (4) technology. Also offered are guidelines for students working in small groups: (1) respect the thinking of contributions made; (2) clarify ideas not understood; (3) have all participate, if possible; (4) stay on the topic being pursued; do not stray to the irrelevant; and (5) no one should dominate the discussion. [More] Descriptors: Science Curriculum, Curriculum Development, Inquiry, Active Learning
(2014). Math Placement: The Importance of Getting It Right for All Students. Research Brief, WestEd. Given the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, California's history of math acceleration in the middle grades, and the concern for correct math course placement for all students, this brief examines patterns from the past to shed light on considerations for the future. The brief, written by WestEd's Tony Fong and Neal Finkelstein, presents the results of further analyses of data from 24 school districts in California that were previously analyzed in an earlier released report. The additional analysis focuses on the math experiences of minority students: When did minority students take algebra I, how often did they repeat the course, and what proportion of minority students reached calculus by grade 12? The answers to questions like these are critical for ensuring that all students are placed in appropriate courses to enable them to succeed in high school and college. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Education, Student Placement, State Standards, Trend Analysis
(2014). Measuring Academic Language Proficiency in School-Age English Language Proficiency Assessments under New College and Career Readiness Standards in the United States, Language Assessment Quarterly. The current focus across the U.S. on student college and career readiness standards makes clear that both instruction and assessment of academic English will continue to be important for school-age English learner (EL) students. This article presents an overview and summary of key literature on academic language (usually academic English); considers how language demands are represented in the Common Core State Standards adopted by most states; briefly compares how academic English is represented in four sets of current English language proficiency/development standards; and considers some factors and challenges in operationalizing academic English for next-generation English language proficiency assessments. The overview and summary information should be useful to educators and developers of standards, curricula, and assessments who want a deeper understanding of academic language and its significance in EL instruction and assessment. [More] Descriptors: Academic Discourse, English Language Learners, State Standards, Language Proficiency
(2014). Implementing Common Core Assessments: Challenges and Recommendations. The United States is transforming how it assesses the academic attainment of its schoolchildren. These changes will come, in part, with the implementation of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia (SBAC) assessments in the spring of 2015, as well as other assessments developed by individual states to measure student performance on the Common Core State Standards or other college- and career-readiness benchmarks. The purpose of this booklet is to help school districts across the country, particularly those in our major cities, get ready for these assessments. The booklet will briefly summarize important features of both major common core assessments (PARCC and SBAC), outline major challenges that school districts will need to attend to when planning for these assessments, and present proposals and recommendations to school districts to help them in the planning process. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Educational Assessment, Program Implementation
(2014). Early Mathematics Fluency with CCSSM, Teaching Children Mathematics. To develop second-grade students' confidence and ease, this author presents examples of learning tasks (Number of the Day, Word Problem Solving, and Modeling New Mathematical Ideas) that align with Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and that build mathematical fluency to promote students' creative expression of mathematical ideas. Students become mathematically fluent thinkers when they have many occasions to make sense of problems and apply their understandings toward increasingly sophisticated problems. Such tasks as number of the day, word problems, and modeling new mathematical ideas can be scaled to continually challenge students' thinking and create the space to develop accuracy, flexibility, and efficiency. Matney concludes that students who understand both the structure of mathematics and the meanings of its representations would emerge from classrooms with the quality of creative expression and the ability to construct new associations and meanings with mathematics as they endeavor to solve the many problems and tasks encountered in our world. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Mathematics Skills, Core Curriculum, State Standards
(2014). Leading Education Reform Initiatives: How SWIFT (Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation) Coordinates and Enhances Impact. Issue Brief #2, National Center on Schoolwide Inclusive School Reform: The SWIFT Center. In this Issue Brief we discuss the impact that the Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT) has on improving the outcomes of several current federal, state, district, and school education reform initiatives. Federal initiatives include Race to the Top, School Improvement Grants, and Campaign for Grade-Level Reading; Common Core State Standards is a state-led initiative; and district or school-level initiatives include Universal Design for Learning, Multi-Tiered System of Support with embedded Response to Intervention and Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. We examine how the SWIFT approach can bring about more effective implementation and stronger buy-in and collaboration among key stakeholders for these initiatives, as well as improve sustainability for long-term impact on student achievement. [More] Descriptors: Educational Change, Federal Legislation, Educational Legislation, Federal Programs
(2014). 13 Rules That Expire, Teaching Children Mathematics. Overgeneralizing commonly accepted strategies, using imprecise vocabulary, and relying on tips and tricks that do not promote conceptual mathematical understanding can lead to misunderstanding later in students' math careers. In this article, the authors present thirteen pervasive mathematics rules that "expire." With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice, the authors conclude that now is an ideal time to highlight common instructional practices that teachers can tweak to better prepare students and allow them to have smoother transitions from grade to grade. The purpose of this article is to outline common rules and vocabulary that teachers share and elementary school students tend to overgeneralize–tips and tricks that do not promote conceptual understanding, rules that "expire" later in students' mathematics careers, or vocabulary that is not precise. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Skills, Vocabulary
(2014). Preservice Teacher Preparation for Common Core Standards and Assessments: A Pilot Study, AILACTE Journal. Teacher preparation programs face great challenges in ensuring their graduates are prepared for the demands of today's classrooms. The authors explore how teacher accountability has evolved based upon federal legislation leading to adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Recognizing that future teachers will be held accountable for preparing students for CCSS, a test based on the standards was used to determine what this type of evaluation means to future teachers. Teacher candidates' impressions of a sample CCSS-based assessment are investigated using a test developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). Twenty-nine teacher candidates completed the fifth-grade Language Arts exam. Opinions of the test were shared on a written survey followed by a focus group discussion. While many of the candidates felt the test was fair and grade appropriate, many shared that there was too much reading and writing. Other results include both strengths and weaknesses of the test. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Knowledge Base for Teaching, State Standards
(2014). Reconciling Representations, Mathematics Teacher. Sometimes a student's unexpected solution turns a routine classroom task into a real problem, one that the teacher cannot resolve right away. Although not knowing the answer can be uncomfortable for a teacher, these moments of uncertainty are also an opportunity to model authentic problem solving. This article describes such a moment in Zahner's class "Problem Solving for Teachers." Reconciling these solutions led the students and Zahner and Dent on a multiweek quest to understand what was going on. Ultimately, this process of inquiry was a powerful lesson about the problem-solving practices as envisioned in the NCTM's Standards (2000) and in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSI 2010). [More] Descriptors: Problem Solving, Mathematics Skills, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Instruction