This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Gary L. Williamson, A. Jackson Stenner, Jill Fitzgerald, Xiaofei Lu, Jim Burke, Mary Elizabeth Mira, Martin R. West, Inc. Achieve, Natalie G. Olinghouse, and Diane Stark Rentner.
(2013). Year 3 of Implementing the Common Core State Standards: States Prepare for Common Core Assessments, Center on Education Policy. With the voluntary Common Core State Standards (CCSS), states have sought to establish clear, high expectations that are consistent across participating states and that signal what K-12 students should learn in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) to be prepared for college and careers. As of July 2013, the CCSS have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia in both subjects and by one additional state in ELA only. To learn more about states' policies, progress, and challenges in assessing students' mastery of the CCSS and preparing to implement assessments aligned to these standards, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) at The George Washington University included several specific questions about assessment within a broader state survey on Common Core implementation. The survey was administered to state deputy superintendents of education or their designees from February through May of 2013. Forty states responded, including 39 that had adopted the CCSS in both ELA and math and 1 that had adopted the standards in ELA only. Thus, the survey findings represent the views of a majority of the adopting states at the time of the survey. The responses of specific states have been kept confidential to encourage frank answers. This report describes states' responses to questions from the survey about assessments aligned to the Common Core. A section on study methods is appended. [This report was written with the assistance of Nancy Kober.] [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Educational Assessment, Mathematics Instruction
(2010). On the Road to Implementation: Achieving the Promise of the Common Core State Standards. The K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent a major advance in standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts. They are grounded in evidence about what it takes for high school graduates to be ready for college and careers and build on the finest state and international standards. The Common Core State Standards offer an unprecedented opportunity for states across the nation to improve upon their education policies and practices, and achieve system-wide reform. This document seeks to identify the key areas that state policymakers will need to consider to implement the new standards with fidelity. The guide is organized by topic with short chapters. It is "not" meant to be an exhaustive review or a checklist of all the issues that states and districts will need to consider as they move from adoption of the CCSS to implementation. Rather, it is meant to be the starting point from which state and district leaders and their allies can organize and begin the necessary discussions around key topics to successfully implement the standards. Individual sections contain footnotes. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Program Implementation, Alignment (Education), Graduation Requirements
(2013). Challenging the Research Base of the Common Core State Standards: A Historical Reanalysis of Text Complexity, Educational Researcher. The widely adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call for raising the level of text complexity in textbooks and reading materials used by students across all grade levels in the United States; the authors of the English Language Arts component of the CCSS build their case for higher complexity in part upon a research base they say shows a steady decline in the difficulty of student reading textbooks over the past half century. In this interdisciplinary study, we offer our own independent analysis of third- and sixth-grade reading textbooks used throughout the past century. Our data set consists of books from 117 textbook series issued by 30 publishers between 1905 and 2004, resulting in a linguistic corpus of roughly 10 million words. Contrary to previous reports, we find that text complexity has either risen or stabilized over the past half century; these findings have significant implications for the justification of the CCSS as well as for our understanding of a "decline" within American schooling more generally. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Difficulty Level, Reading Ability
(2014). Evaluation of Teachers and Leaders. State Implementation of Common Core State Standards, Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). By 2012, all of the states in this study had started implementing new or revised teacher and leader evaluation systems. There are many and varying updates to these systems, and some of them have been made to meet conditions for a state's federal "Race to the Top" (RTT) grant. Other updates have been made to meet conditions for a state's waiver for certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, currently known as "No Child Left Behind"). The following profiles examine one particular aspect of states' new teacher and leader evaluation systems: how states integrate the higher expectations for student learning inherent in the Common Core within the systems' requirements for continuous improvement of teachers and principals. Essentially, these profiles ask, what measures within state teacher and leader evaluation systems generate information that sharpens understanding of teacher and principal performance in terms of their implementation of, support for, and effect on student learning of the Common Core? [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Program Implementation, Teacher Evaluation
(2015). An Investigation into the Implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics: Teacher Concerns and Understandings of Transformation Geometry, ProQuest LLC. The Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM) represent a major attempt in a long line of attempts to reform the American Education system surrounding Mathematics. These standards aim to establish a nationwide set of curriculum, seeking to ensure equity for all students in the U.S.A. Some of the standards included are new to all teachers at various levels. Among these new standards are those that focus upon Transformation Geometry (TG) in the Secondary curriculum. This study investigated teachers concerns about this inclusion, and their understanding of the mathematics and their Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching specifically related to these concepts. This study used a mixed methods approach that incorporated a quantitative survey, the use of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire based in the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM), and a researcher developed open-ended interview protocol. Further, the participants were asked to describe how they might help students through a learning process that included several mathematics problems that were presented without solutions. Various demographic questions were asked of the participants and data was collected from a total of 100 teachers from a section of four Central California counties which represent a diverse collection of situations. Statistical and qualitative analyses were employed to inspect relationships between variables. The statistical measures used were: descriptive analysis, cross-tabulation, the Student t-test for independence, and correlations. The qualitative analysis consisted of a Content Analysis of all collected data from the interviews where coding for three variables was the focus. These variables were: Attitude, Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Transformation Geometry (MKT-TG), and the Locus of Learning. Results of the SOCQ assessment indicated that most teachers were "unconcerned" about and not implementing TG as it is described in the standards. They put forward a series of challenges to the implementation of TG; chief among these was "Student Prior Knowledge." Results of the MKT-TG assessment showed that 74% of the teachers were unable to provide evidence of proficiency with the content of TG. The interviews provided a different image to the situation. Here the teachers voiced a welcoming attitude toward the CCSSM and TG both. They indicate through the interviews that they do indeed possess some depth of understanding of TG. The investigation into the Locus of Learning variable yielded what may be an expected result given the short history of these standards in the curriculum; the overwhelming majority of teachers have not had any formal learning experiences with this content. This analysis indicates some potentially critical needs for professional development in the area of TG. [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: Mathematics Instruction, Mathematics Education, Common Core State Standards, State Standards
(2017). Ten-Year Trends in Public Opinion from the "EDNEXT" Poll, Education Next. The year 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the "Education Next" poll on K-12 education policy, offering "Education Next" the opportunity to take a retrospective look at public opinion on this vital topic. In 8 of the past 10 years, "Education Next" has also surveyed teachers on the subject and has seen some interesting differences between the thinking of these educators and the public at large. This year, given that public opinion on many national issues is riven by partisan disparities, the authors compare and contrast the views of Republicans and Democrats. On many topics, the authors find that opinion has remained consistent over the past 10 years. The authors write that they see only slight changes in people's views on the quality of the nation's schools, for instance, or on federally mandated testing, charter schools, tax credits to support private school choice, merit pay for teachers, or the effects of teachers unions. But on other issues, opinions have changed significantly. Support for the Common Core State Standards has fallen to a new low in 2016. So has public backing for school vouchers–both those limited to low-income families and those made available to all families. Support for tenure has fallen, but approval for teacher salary hikes has climbed to levels not seen since the U.S. recession of 2008 among respondents not told about current salary levels. Over all, the authors present details of their seven main conclusions drawn from their multi year survey of public and teacher opinions on a broad range of educational issues. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Educational Policy, Trend Analysis, Common Core State Standards
(2013). The Common Core State Standards' Quantitative Text Complexity Trajectory: Figuring out How Much Complexity Is Enough, Educational Researcher. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) set a controversial aspirational, quantitative trajectory for text complexity exposure for readers throughout the grades, aiming for all high school graduates to be able to independently read complex college and workplace texts. However, the trajectory standard is presented without reference to how the grade-by-grade complexity ranges were determined or rationalized, and little guidance is provided for educators to know how to apply the flexible quantitative text exposure standard in their local contexts. We extend and elaborate the CCSS presentation and discussion, proposing that decisions about shifting quantitative text complexity levels in schools requires more than implementation of a single, static standard. A rigorous two-part analytical strategy for decision making surrounding the quantitative trajectory standard is proposed, a strategy that can be used by state policy makers, district officials, and educators in general. First, borrowing methods from student growth modeling, we illustrate an analytical method for creation of multiple trajectories that can lead to the CCSS end-of-high-school target for text complexity exposure, resulting in trajectories that place greater burden for shifting text complexity levels on students in different grades. Second, we submit that knowledge of the multiple possibilities, in conjunction with a set of guiding principles for decision making, can support educators and policy makers in critiquing and using the CCSS quantitative standard for text complexity exposure to establish particular expectations for quantitative text complexity exposure for particular students in situ. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Decision Making, High School Graduates, State Policy
(2013). Implementing the Common Core State Standards: The Role of the School Librarian. As shown by MetLife's 2010 "Survey of the American Teacher," America's educators strongly believe that all students should graduate from high school ready for college and a career (85 percent). Additionally, according to MetLife's 2009 survey, 86 percent of teachers believe that setting high expectations for students will improve student achievement to that end. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are strongly aligned with those sentiments. The success of such change requires the thoughtful attention of school leaders. As such, this Action Brief for school librarians is offered as a "starting point," designed to increase awareness of the standards, create a sense of urgency around their implementation, and provide these stakeholders–who are faced with dramatically increased expectations in the context of fewer resources–with a deeper understanding of the standards and their role in implementing the standards. This Action Brief provides no-cost takeaways and action steps that school leaders and librarians can begin to put into practice in their schools today. The brief also features rich examples of how librarians might integrate the CCSS into their work to impact teaching and learning in a CCSS environment. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, School Libraries, Librarians, Library Role
(2015). Teaching by Design: Tools and Techniques to Improve Instruction, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and other state standards have challenged teachers to rethink how they plan units and design their assignments within constraints of time and increasingly diverse classrooms. This article describes the author's efforts to create a coherent, useable set of tools to make his teaching at the unit and daily levels more consistently effective. Through the tools and techniques he discusses here, the author presents the notion of a set of "performances" that serve as a guide for his own class and a means of facilitating important, if sometimes difficult, conversations within English departments about who is teaching what at each grade level. While the notion of these "Essential Performances" is not meant to replace the CCSS or any other set of standards, it is designed to lead to a more coherent progression aligned with the CCSS that allows teachers to collaborate when designing lessons and units to improve instructional consistency and professional collaboration. [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Educational Planning, Instructional Design, Lesson Plans
(2014). Common Core-Aligned Teaching Resources. State Implementation of Common Core State Standards, Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). The following profiles address how the state departments of education are supporting local educators in classroom implementation of the Common Core by providing and/or facilitating the development of instructional resources and materials aligned to the new standards. In order for instructional resources and materials to be aligned to the Common Core, they must provide coherent and accurate information about the standards and clearly define the knowledge and skills contained within the standards and how these differ from the state's previous standards. Instructional resources and materials need to offer guidance to educators on the implications of the increased level of rigor required by the new standards for designing teaching and learning experiences. Resources and materials addressed in these profiles were provided by states as "supplementary supports that educators can use on a voluntary basis, and are not required curriculum." These profiles provide a descriptive overview of each state's efforts in this area. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Educational Resources, Alignment (Education), Program Implementation
(2015). Do Twelfths Terminate or Repeat?, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. When finding the decimal equivalent of a fraction with 12 in the denominator, will it terminate or repeat? This question came from a seventh grader in author Erica Burnison's class as the student was pondering a poster generated by one of her classmates. Not only was the question intriguing, but it also affirmed the belief in the power of tailoring instruction to students' interests and needs. As math educators, trying to figure out how to implement the content and Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) found in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in a student-centered fashion, the authors were thrilled by this moment. This question from a student also demonstrated that students can engage in the SMP while working in collaborative groups. In this article, the authors will describe the activities that gave rise to this student-generated question. They will also provide their collaborative reflection of the activities because they find that collaboration deepens their understanding of pedagogy as well as mathematics. The authors hope that their account will inspire others to work together. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Middle School Students, Secondary School Mathematics, Teaching Methods
(2014). Timeline and Approach to Standards and Assessments. State Implementation of Common Core State Standards, Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). The following profiles address the basic decisions and actions that state education policy-makers–in the state departments of education, unless otherwise noted–are taking to foster successful statewide implementation of the new standards and aligned assessments in 15 states. These profiles provide a descriptive overview of each state's implementation efforts. For trends across the states in their efforts, successes, challenges, types of support needed to move this work forward, and practitioner perceptions of the effectiveness of state efforts and their experiences with implementation. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Program Implementation, Outcome Measures
(2013). The Common Core State Standards and Evidence-Based Educational Practices: The Case of Writing, Grantee Submission. Although writing plays an important role in the academic, psychosocial, and economic success of individuals, typical writing instruction and assessment in the United States generally does not reflect evidence-based practices. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) place a great deal of emphasis on written expression and may encourage an increased focus on writing in schools and help to positively shape the practices of educators. In this article, we summarize a theoretically grounded content analysis of the writing and language standards of the CCSS to identify apparent strengths and limitations in the standards. We also note the degree to which the CCSS may support the adoption of evidence-based practices for writing instruction and assessment by teachers based on the content. The CCSS for writing and language appear to be succinct and balanced with respect to the content addressed, but some aspects of writing are not covered well (e.g., spelling) or at all (e.g., motivation). Out of 36 evidence-based writing instruction and assessment practices, the CCSS signal less than half of these in any given grade, suggesting that practitioners will need to consult other resources to acquire knowledge about such practices and how to exploit them to facilitate students' attainment of the standards. Finally, we recommend ways in which school psychologists can function as a valuable resource for teachers and schools in their efforts to deploy evidence-based practices, especially for students who struggle with writing. [This article was published in "School Psychology Review," v42 n3 p343-357 2013.] [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Evidence Based Practice, Educational Practices, Writing Instruction
(2010). Common Core State Standards: A Tool for Improving Education. NEA Policy Brief. For many years, there have been efforts to promote the development of national standards for education in the United States. In the Spring of 2010, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) completed a project to develop Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Leading education organizations, such as the National Education Association (NEA), the College Board, Achieve, and ACT agreed to become partners with NGA and CCSSO. Members of major teacher organizations–NEA, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)–served as review groups. Their comments led to a number of changes for the final draft of the CCSS. This brief discusses the following: (1) what the Common Core State Standards cover; (2) what is special about the Standards; (3) what the Standards can accomplish; (4) what happens after the Standards are adopted in states; and (5) what else is needed to improve education. [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Educational Policy, Educational Improvement, Partnerships in Education
(2013). Implementation of the Common Core State Standards. A Policy Research Brief. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA), designed to make students college and career ready, were released in June 2010, and have since been adopted by 45 states seeking to be eligible for Race to the Top funds offered by the US Department of Education. The states that signed on with the CCSS agreed to fully implement these standards by the 2014-2015 academic year, the same year when the assessments for CCSS will be launched. Developers of the CCSS describe six instructional shifts that will be necessary to the implementation of the ELA standards. They are: (1) Balancing informational and literary texts; (2) Building knowledge in disciplines; (3) Moving up the staircase of textual complexity; (4) Focusing on text-based answers; (5) Writing from sources; and (6) Creating an academic vocabulary. This Brief reviews research on current implementations, considers research on learning theory in relation to implementing the CCSS, draws on research to explore implications of the forthcoming assessments, and offers recommendations for ongoing implementation. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Program Implementation, Language Arts