This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Steve Graham, Daniel F. McCaffrey, Catherine Gewertz, Mara Wold, Patricia Daddona, Shawn Vecellio, Andrew Dyrli Hermeling, Andrew Ujifusa, Karen R. Harris, and Sean Cavanagh.
(2013). Social Studies on the Outside Looking In: Redeeming the Neglected Curriculum, District Administration. Many social studies teachers are nervous about the coming of Common Core State Standards. With so much emphasis placed on literacy, social studies teachers fear they will see content slashed to leave time for meeting English's non-fiction standards. Already reeling from a lack of attention from the benchmarks put in place by No Child Left Behind, those devoted to social
(2013). Standards Draw Heat in States, Education Week. Opponents of the Common Core State Standards are ramping up legislative pressure and public relations efforts aimed at getting states to scale back–or even abandon–the high-profile initiative, even as implementation proceeds and tests aligned with the standards loom. Critics of the common core have focused recent lobbying and media efforts on Colorado, Idaho, and Indiana, all of which have signed on to the standards. Opinion on the common core does not break down neatly along party lines, and critics cite a variety of reasons for their views. Some see the new standards providing a pipeline for the private sector to access taxpayer dollars. Others say Washington is using the common core to lay the groundwork for a national curriculum, with an assist from such prominent supporters of the standards as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative's emphasis on student testing also has prompted concern. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Educational Testing, National Curriculum, Private Sector
(2013). Linking Common Core and Expanded Learning, Leadership. After-school and summer programs are huge assets to the school day. Kids need time to play, explore and have fun, and after-school and summer staff are well suited to provide those kinds of experiences. Expanded learning programs have the unique potential at school sites where structured, facilitated conversations are taking place about student learning. They increase student time on task, highlight key concepts identified for student mastery, and more importantly, engage students with additional caring adults who provide support and help connect students to school. In light of the new demands of the Common Core State Standards, no time could be better for expanded learning programs to emerge as an effective best practice to support student learning. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Time on Task, State Standards, Caring
studies feel like they are once again on the outside looking in. However, could the implementation of Common Core actually bring social studies back into focus? Organizations such as the National Council for the Social Studies and the National History Education Clearinghouse have begun mobilizing to advocate for dedicated social studies curricula aligned with Common Core. This article discusses the meaning of Common Core. [More] Descriptors: Social Studies, Secondary School Teachers, Academic Standards, State Standards
(2013). Literacy Challenges and Opportunities for Students with Learning Disabilities in Social Studies and History, Learning Disabilities Research & Practice. The Common Core State Standards for literacy in history and social studies present opportunities and challenges for teachers of and adolescents with learning disabilities (LD). In addition to reading challenges, students must engage in higher order thinking and reasoning. To provide opportunities for students to successfully respond to such challenges, teachers must have an understanding of the expectations in the Standards, and of the learning needs of students with LD. Teachers can assure success for adolescents with LD by selecting proven instructional procedures and engaging in collaboration to provide students with the supports they need. Examples of one evidence-based practice, Content Enhancement, are provided to illustrate instructional protocols for teachers of diverse classes that include adolescents with LD. [More] Descriptors: Learning Disabilities, State Standards, Educational Opportunities, Evidence
(2013). Studies Find Vocabulary Instruction Is Falling Short, Education Week. Children who enter kindergarten with a small vocabulary don't get taught enough words–particularly, sophisticated academic words–to close the gap, according to the latest in a series of studies by Michigan early-learning experts. The findings suggest many districts could be at a disadvantage in meeting the increased requirements for vocabulary learning from the Common Core State Standards, said study co-author Susan B. Neuman, a professor in educational studies specializing in early literacy development at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Vocabulary is a deceptively simple literacy skill that researchers and educators agree is critical to students' academic success, but which has proved frustratingly difficult to address. The consensus among researchers and educators has been that students must close such vocabulary gaps to succeed academically and deal with rigorous content. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Reading Instruction, Vocabulary, Emergent Literacy
(2013). How Shall I Teach Thee? An Uncommon Pedagogy for the Common Core, Schools: Studies in Education. In this article the author examines the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to argue for changes in "standards-based" perspectives and practices that grew out of No Child Left Behind. Drawing on an article by David T. Conley, cochairman of the Validation Committee for the CCSS, the author offers a new model for the professional educator–the teacher as "pedagogue." Examples from the author's classroom teaching are used to illustrate an interdisciplinary approach to lesson design and delivery, which the CCSS demand. Teaching to the test, college and career readiness, and problem posing are explored to identify recommendations for changes in the roles of teachers and administrators. Implications for professional development are provided based on the goal of teachers becoming pedagogues. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Educational Practices, Interdisciplinary Approach
(2013). Writing across the K12 Curriculum, District Administration. Back in 2010, then-elementary school Principal Catherine White focused on writing in the Attleboro (Mass.) Public Schools. And with that, the school's fourth graders beat the state average for long composition on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. White, now a literacy specialist in the Natick (Mass.) Public Schools, looks at that accomplishment as a foreshadowing of the success that's possible with Common Core State Standards. In preparation for new testing in the fall of 2014, district leaders are increasing writing and shifting it across the curriculum as they teach to the new Common Core standards. Some district administrators are devising ways to deliver writing across the curriculum by imposing new, more intricate ways of writing for 21st-century students. They include: writing vertically; argumentative writing, which relies upon citing textual evidence to establish, counter, and prove a claim; real-life situations; and linking reading to writing. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Persuasive Discourse, Public Schools, Principals
(2013). Improving College Readiness in the Age of the Common Core. Over the next ten years, more than half of all jobs will require some education beyond high school. The majority of students entering college do not earn a college credential that would give them better access to these jobs. While the Common Core State Standards should lead to more college-ready students over time, students will still need programmatic supports from secondary and postsecondary educational institutions to better prepare them for a successful postsecondary educational career. Some promising program models exist. However, they should be refined based on more formative research, and then expanded to scale and rigorously evaluated. As part of MDRC's "Looking Forward" series, this memo provides suggestions for policymakers on ways to make progress on this critical issue. [More] Descriptors: College Readiness, Career Readiness, State Standards, Academic Standards
(2013). Reading: What Else Matters besides Strategies and Skills?, Reading Teacher. How can we best contribute to our students' reading development and achievement? What are the hallmarks of successful, independent student readers? An examination of reading curricula, reading assessment, and related Federal education policy reveals the ongoing emphasis on the cognitive strategies and skills of reading. The teaching and learning of the "big 5" of No Child Left Behind, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, are considered the hallmark of effective reading programs. The Common Core State Standards continue the focus on the cognitive aspects of reading. While strategies and skills are central to reading achievement, they are but one aspect of elementary students' reading development. In this article, we examine other important influences on this development. We focus on metacognition, engagement and motivation, epistemic beliefs, and self-efficacy, and we describe how they can contribute to students' reading success. [More] Descriptors: Reading Achievement, Reading Strategies, Reading Skills, Cognitive Ability
(2013). Will Teacher Value-Added Scores Change When Accountability Tests Change? What We Know Series: Value-Added Methods and Applications. Knowledge Brief 8, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Value-added evaluations use student test scores to assess teacher effectiveness. How student achievement is judged can depend on which test is used to measure it. Thus it is reasonable to ask whether a teacher's value-added score depends on which test is used to calculate it. Would it change if a different test was used? Specifically, might a teacher admonished for poor performance or recognized for good performance have been treated differently if a different test had been used? It's an important question, particularly because most states will soon be adopting new tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards. In this knowledge brief the author discusses what is known about how sensitive value-added scores are to the choice of test and what more needs to be known. He also discusses issues about the choice of test that might not be resolved through empirical investigation, as well as the implications of these findings for states and school districts. [More] Descriptors: Scores, Accountability, Achievement Gains, Teacher Effectiveness
(2013). Using Research to Make Sensible Literacy Decisions within Current Educational Initiatives, Language and Literacy Spectrum. This article argues that literacy educators must take time to advocate for research-informed instructional responses in this age of Common Core State Standards and Race to the Top mandates. To that end, it offers four key ideas regarding: (a) what we know about instruction, (b) the need for long-term, continuously revised planning, (c) literacy in our growing technological world, and (d) the nature and origins of literacy teacher expertise. It describes how literacy theory and research connect to the new initiatives, raises concerns about responses that do not reflect literacy scholarship, suggests how to proceed to find the most effective ways to address new mandates, and offers numerous references and resources to assist in the implementation of these new initiatives. [More] Descriptors: Literacy Education, Educational Policy, Reading Research, Theory Practice Relationship
(2013). Maine Leading Initiative for Multistate Tech. Buys, Education Week. A group of states has joined forces to arrange the purchase of an unusually comprehensive set of educational-technology devices and services, in a compact that could foreshadow other cooperative efforts by state and local governments attempting to turn the digital-procurement process to their advantage. The initial partners in the multistate venture are Maine, which has taken the lead, as well as Hawaii and Vermont. Leaders of the undertaking, known as the Multi-State Learning Technology Initiative, say that a major factor driving the collaboration–and one that could help attract other states–is the development of the Common Core State Standards, an attempt to create uniform academic expectations across states. In their invitation to technology companies bidding to provide them with services, the initial state partners said that technology supplied by vendors must meet the guidelines given to states by a pair of consortia for the common-core tests, which will be given online. [More] Descriptors: Educational Technology, Purchasing, State Government, School Districts
(2013). Reaching the Mountaintop: Addressing the Common Core Standards in Mathematics for Students with Mathematics Difficulties, Learning Disabilities Research & Practice. The Common Core State Standards provide teachers with a framework of necessary mathematics skills across grades K-12, which vary considerably from previous mathematics standards. In this article, we discuss concerns about the implications of the Common Core for students with mathematics difficulties (MD), given that students with MD, by definition, struggle with mathematical skills. We suggest that instruction centered on the Common Core will be challenging and may lead to problematic outcomes for this population. We propose that working on foundational skills related to the Common Core standards is a necessary component of mathematics instruction for students with MD, and we provide teachers with a framework for working on foundational skills concurrent with the Common Core standards. We caution, however, that implementation of the Common Core is in its infancy, and the implications of the Common Core for students with MD need to be monitored carefully. [More] Descriptors: Learning Disabilities, State Standards, Mathematics Skills, Mathematics Instruction
(2013). One Class Takes on the Standards, Education Week. Using an article about labor leader Cesar Chavez's grape boycott and hunger strike, students at Stuart-Hobson Middle School in Washington, D.C., are doing a "close read," a skill prized by the new Common Core State Standards being put into practice in the District of Columbia. As an English/language arts teacher in the common-core era, Ms. Dowan McNair-Lee is part of a huge national push to turn millions of students into strong readers and writers. In its second year of K-12 implementation in literacy, the District of Columbia is farther along than many in putting the standards into practice. It does, however, face long odds as it works to help its largely disadvantaged student population master them. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, State Standards, Academic Standards, Language Arts
(2013). Bring Powerful Writing Strategies Into Your Classroom! Why and How, Reading Teacher. Learning to write is critical in today's world, yet many students are not developing the writing abilities they need to use writing as a powerful tool for learning and for showing what they know. Research indicates that failure to acquire strong writing abilities restricts opportunities for both post-secondary education and employment. This article addresses why writing is important and its place in the Common Core State Standards, factors that contribute to the poor writing performance of so many of our students, and how we can develop strong writers across the grades. The focus of the article is Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD), an evidence-based approach supported by a long-standing body of research meeting stringent standards that clearly indicates significant improvements in student achievement. The article includes resources for readers who wish to learn more, as well as a description of effective professional development in SRSD. [More] Descriptors: Writing Instruction, Teaching Methods, Writing Strategies, Academic Standards