This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Suzanne Marten, Margaret Spellings, Kelly Griffith, Deborah S. Peterson, Harriette Thurber Rasmussen, Sara Hill, Johnna J. Bolyard, Wendy M. Smith, Anne Lawrence, and Jessica Fink Tucker.
(2014). Examining High-Stakes Testing–Forum. "Education Next" Talks with Joshua P. Starr and Margaret Spellings, Education Next. More than 40 states plan to assess student performance with new tests tied to the Common Core State Standards. In summer 2013, results from Common Core-aligned tests in New York showed a steep decline in outcomes. Common Core advocates hailed the scores as an honest accounting of school and student performance, while others worried that they reflected problems with the tests, inadequate support for educators, or a lack of alignment between what schools are teaching and what's being tested. In this forum, Joshua Starr, superintendent of schools in high-performing Montgomery County, Maryland, makes the case for a three-year hiatus from high-stakes accountability testing while new standards and tests are implemented ("A Testing Moratorium Is Necessary"). Accountability proponent Margaret Spellings, U.S. secretary of education from 2005 to 2009 and now president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, defends the testing regime as a critical source of information, for educators as well as the public, and argues for holding the line ("Assessments Are Vital for Healthy Schools"). [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, State Standards, Academic Standards, Scores
(2014). Beyond Test Scores: What NAEP Results Tell Us about Implementing the Common Core in Our Classrooms. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) requires the preparing of students for college and careers in a new way, equipping them with a deeper understanding of concepts and skills in literacy and mathematics. Under the new standards in both reading and math, students will be asked to demonstrate and apply what they have learned in ways that are fundamentally different from what was expected in the past. The Council analyzed items from the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) that were similar in structure, rigor, and complexity to the requirements of the common core standards, as well as sample assessment items released by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). In this booklet, the Council analyses–two mathematics items and two English Language arts items–shows how students did on these questions, discusses what may have been missing from their instruction, and outlines what changes to curriculum and instruction might help districts and schools advance student achievement. It also poses a series of questions that district leaders should be asking themselves about curriculum, professional development, and other instructional supports with the goal of better articulating what needs to change in classrooms, schools, and central offices in order to realize the full promise of the common core. Appended to the report are: (1) Sample NAEP Reading Passages and (2) City-by-City NAEP Item Results. [More] Descriptors: National Competency Tests, Academic Standards, State Standards, Mathematics Achievement
(2014). State Education Agency Communications Process: Benchmark and Best Practices Project. Benchmark and Best Practices Project. Issue No. 01, Building State Capacity and Productivity Center. The role of state education agencies (SEAs) has shifted significantly from low-profile, compliance activities like managing federal grants to engaging in more complex and politically charged tasks like setting curriculum standards, developing accountability systems, and creating new teacher evaluation systems. The move from compliance-monitoring to leading large-scale education change is not only more complex, it also has shined a brighter spotlight on SEAs and their ability to improve student outcomes. Communication is a critical component to help SEAs create system-wide clarity and coherence, and to proactively manage messages to gain stakeholder support. This report explains the major processes associated with strategic communication and details the communication approaches employed by five SEAs to support the adoption of new state standards, a reform that has recently become politically charged by the suggestion that the Common Core state standards represent government overreach. Because the debate has little to do with the actual content or purpose of the standards–to set a common bar that will better prepare students for college and careers–and more about political perspectives, SEAs find they must take extreme care with their communications and approach to developing, adopting, and implementing new standards. The following are appended: (1) Kansas' Positive Communication Sample; (2) Idaho Myths and Factors for External Stakeholders; (3) Kansas Myths and Facts External Communication; (4) Kentucky's Commissioner's Blog; (5) Arkansas SEA Video Using Teacher Voice; and (6) Arkansas SEA Using Student Voice in Common Core Video. [More] Descriptors: State Departments of Education, Stakeholders, State Standards, Government Role
(2014). Second-Graders' Mathematical Practices for Solving Fraction Tasks, Investigations in Mathematics Learning. Recently, over 40 states in the United States adopted the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) which include standards for content and eight standards for mathematical practices. The purpose of this study was to better understand the nature of young children's mathematical practices through an exploratory examination of the practices of a group of second-grade students engaged in several mathematical tasks focused on rational number concepts. Twenty-five second-grade students completed three fraction tasks in structured clinical interviews. The interviews and student work were analyzed using an interpretational analysis to examine the data for constructs, themes, and patterns that were useful in explaining children's mathematical practices. The results reveal that children used a variety of mathematical practices during the interviews to respond to the mathematical problems presented. Children's mathematical practices were both a product that they used to solve the mathematical situations, and a process that was developing during the interactions of the interview. The findings lead to new insights about how mathematical practices develop and what promotes their development. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Elementary School Mathematics, Problem Solving, Grade 2
(2014). The Development and Evolution of an Introductory Statistics Course for In-Service Middle-Level Mathematics Teachers, Journal of Statistics Education. The statistical preparation of in-service teachers, particularly middle school teachers, has been an area of concern for several years. This paper discusses the creation and delivery of an introductory statistics course as part of a master's degree program for in-service mathematics teachers. The initial course development took place before the advent of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and the Mathematics Education of Teachers (MET II) Reports, and even before the GAISE Pre-K-12 Report. Since then, even with the recommendations of MET II and the wide-spread implementation of the CCSSM, the guidance available to faculty wishing to develop a statistics course for professional development of in-service teachers remains scarce. We give an overview of the master's degree program and discuss aspects of the course, including the goals for the course, course planning and development, the instructional team, course delivery and modifications, and lessons learned through five offerings. With this paper, we share our experiences developing such a course, the evolution of the course over multiple iterations, and what we have learned about its value to the middle-level teachers who have participated. As more and more universities are being asked to develop courses specifically for in-service teachers, we wrote this article in the hopes of providing guidance to others, and to share our lessons learned. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Teachers, Middle School Teachers, Inservice Teacher Education, Educational Development
(2014). Enacting Common Core Instruction: A Comparative Study of the Use of LDC Literacy Tools in Three Sites, Research For Action. As of the writing of this report, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are being implemented in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Approaches to implementing the standards, however, are highly varied. For the past 3 years, Research For Action (RFA) has been tracking how one approach to implementing the literacy standards–the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC)–has played out in diverse settings. In this document, the authors show how three of these settings–a medium-size urban/suburban district (Kenton County, Kentucky), a large urban district (Hillsborough County, Florida), and a regional educational service agency (Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, Pennsylvania)–used LDC to help teachers align instruction with the CCSS. Their research shows that there are some best practices that are shared across all sites. Yet they also find that adapting to unique contextual factors is an integral part of successful implementation; and that there remain opportunities for further consideration and development at all sites. The cross-case study report is intended as a resource that can assist policymakers and education leaders in understanding the variation of best practices in LDC implementation, and also as a "road map" for sites that are considering adopting LDC tools. Four appendixes are included: (1) Data/Methodology; (2) Background Information; (3) Profile of Three Sites; and (4) Special Thanks. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Alignment (Education), Best Practices
(2014). Informational Text Comprehension: Its Challenges and How Collaborative Strategic Reading Can Help, Reading Improvement. With the increased emphasis on informational text with Common Core State Standards and the difficulty many students have with this type of text, this study examined the effects of Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) on informational text comprehension and metacognitive awareness of fifth grade students. Participating students included a heterogeneous mix of regular education students, gifted education students, students with disabilities, and English learners (ELs). A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design was used to study the effects of CSR on informational text comprehension using the Qualitative Reading Inventory-5 (QRI-5) and Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). Metacognitive awareness was measured using the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI). Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The MANCOVA analysis found a statistically significant difference in informational text comprehension on the QRI-5 between the experimental and control groups with the experimental group outperforming the control group, while controlling for student reading level and student subgroup; however, there was no statistically significant difference on the CRCT or on CRCT reading domains. The MANOVA analysis found no significant difference between the experimental and control groups on the MARSI and MARSI subscales. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Reading Comprehension, Metacognition, Reading Strategies
(2014). A Culturally Responsive Alternative to "Drill and Kill" Literacy Strategies: Deep Roots, Civil Rights, Multicultural Perspectives. This article describes two approaches to improving literacy in a high poverty, diverse urban high school. One curriculum program, "Striving Readers," included a prescribed course of study for students reading below grade level along with schoolwide strategies. This approach did not improve targeted students' reading scores or motivation to read. The alternative approach, "Deep Roots: Civil Rights," was a culturally responsive curriculum that had a strong impact on the identified students' academic development as well as their understanding of racism in this country. An examination of "Striving Readers" and "Deep Roots: Civil Rights" projects provides insight into the impact of the curriculum on student achievement and motivation. At a time when many schools are implementing the Common Core State Standards, this article is a reminder that a compelling, rigorous, culturally responsive curriculum best serves all our nation's schoolchildren. Projects such as "Deep Roots: Civil Rights" provide an effective alternative or complement to prescribed reading programs. [More] Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Culturally Relevant Education, Literacy Education, Civil Rights
(2014). Revisiting Mr. Tall and Mr. Short, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. Ratio, rate, and proportion are central ideas in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for middle-grades mathematics (CCSSI 2010). These ideas closely connect to themes in earlier grades (pattern building, multiplicative reasoning, rational number concepts) and are the foundation for understanding linear functions as well as many high school mathematics and science topics. As students journey toward mature proportional reasoning, teachers can gain insight into their thinking by carefully analyzing their solution strategies on a single problem. Robert Karplus and his colleagues began using the Mr. Tall and Mr. Short problem (described herein) in this way in the late 1960s. Karplus, Karplus, and Wollman (1974), influenced by Piaget, aimed to chart the development of abstract reasoning in young students. Beyond its use in formal research, this problem is a "classroom challenge" explored in the 2002 NCTM Yearbook, "Making Sense of Fractions, Ratios, and Proportions" (Khoury 2002). Teachers using this challenge are encouraged to assess their students at one of four broad levels of proportional thinking. In this spirit, and as part of a larger project to examine proportional reasoning, the authors gave the Mr. Tall and Mr. Short problem to over 400 middle school students in a small Midwestern town. Their aim in this article is to share the categories of solution strategies they found and to discuss what these strategies reveal about student thinking. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Middle School Students, Secondary School Mathematics, Mathematical Concepts
(2014). Beyond the Core: Peer Observation Brings Common Core to Vocational and Electives Classes, Journal of Staff Development. This article describes how a Washington State School District increased professional learning around the Common Core State Standards. The challenge was how to establish a way for career and technical education and electives teachers to learn and apply Common Core in their classes. Weaving Common Core literacy standards into vocational and electives classrooms would give students the practice they needed with the standards, while making class content more accessible by using the strategies. This was accomplished by having career and technical education and electives teachers observe how Common Core literacy strategies are taught in non-English language arts content areas. Social studies and science teachers were already infusing Common Core literacy strategies into their lessons, thus a peer observation program was instituted and became a valuable resource for everyone involved. Briefing sessions were conducted that allowed the career and technical education and electives teachers to see how application of the Common Core Standards from one content area could be applied in their area, and how to apply successful strategies to common challenges. The career and technical education and electives teachers recognized that as they prepared students for the Common Core, their own learning would enhance their students' academic success. It made sense that as teachers increased their expectations for students, they should increase their expectations of themselves as learner practitioners. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, School Districts, Career Education, Technical Education
(2014). Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Core? The Common Core Standards and Out-of-School Time Programs, Afterschool Matters. The Robert Bowne Foundation for out-of-school time (OST) supports the development of quality programs that offer literacy education in the out-of-school hours to children and youth of New York City, especially young people from disadvantaged communities. The foundation's networking meetings, now in their 10th year, offer quarterly forums in which participants from a wide variety of programs across the city can share their work, develop new ideas for their programs, and discuss important issues in the field. The process of gathering topic ideas from the previous year's networking meeting evaluations and from meetings with the foundation's grantees revealed that the Common Core Learning Standards–New York's version of the Common Core State Standards–were on many OST providers' minds. Funders are increasingly asking grantees how their OST programs are supporting the standards– even though the standards were designed explicitly for in-school education, not for OST. Providers are concerned about being asked to meet academic standards designed for school while still pursuing the traditional focus of OST programs on positive youth development. How can OST programs support academic progress while pursuing their goals, traditions, and mission? This article will demonstrate how understanding the Common Core Standards can support the work of OST providers and the youth and families they serve. In fact, in many ways, the work OST programs do every day is already aligned with the standards. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Out of School Youth, After School Programs, Alignment (Education)
(2014). Proud Readers Own What's Learned, Knowledge Quest. Proud Readers Own What's Learned (PROWL) was developed out of the need to find an engaging, creative process for readers to express what they have read and, frankly, to let teachers see that the students actually read the books. In other more prescriptive reading programs students can go through the motions and actually pass tests without having deep knowledge of books read. PROWL was piloted last year at Elizabeth D. Koontz Elementary School in Salisbury, North Carolina. This program combines Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with technology and higher-level thinking skills on Bloom's Taxonomy. Most importantly, students don't see participation in the program as work. Through their enjoyment of this reading program, students go well beyond the basic requirements. After describing the logistics of PROWL, school librarian Jessica Tucker highlights two of the students' favorite PROWL projects: blogging and the "confession booth." Both projects require the same information, but that information is presented in two different ways. The students are asked to share basic information about a book they have read. Then they are required to answer a higher-order thinking question of their choice. She concludes that the beauty of PROWL is that it allows students multiple creative ways to share about a book. The students can express themselves through pen and paper or through technology. They are given the ability to share basic content knowledge of a text but also asked to think more deeply by sharing their perspectives. [More] Descriptors: Reading Programs, Reading Improvement, Library Services, Program Descriptions
(2014). It's Not Education by Zip Code Anymore–But What is It? Conceptions of Equity under the Common Core, Education Policy Analysis Archives. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a standards-based reform in which 45 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have agreed to participate. The reform seeks to anchor primary and secondary education across these states in one set of demanding, internationally benchmarked standards. Thereby, all students will be prepared for further learning and work in a competitive global economy regardless of the sociodemographic variation associated with their "zip code," that is, the location of their neighborhood or school. This article examines the role and meaning of equity within the Common Core at a level beyond "zip code." It does so using data from interviews with Common Core policy entrepreneurs and qualitative analysis of interview data. Findings are considered against a conceptual framework of equal, equalizing, and expansive views of equity. The findings indicate that policy entrepreneurs hold primarily an equal view of equity, in accord with meritocratic and functional purposes of schooling, more so than equalizing or expansive views. The latter views emphasize compensatory purposes that focus on narrowing achievement gaps. From this analysis, we identify the paradox of equity in education policy: The successful launch of a policy that relies on existing paradigms of standards-based reform and an equal conception of equity helps tether educational outcomes to student background. [More] Descriptors: Equal Education, School Location, State Standards, Academic Standards
(2014). Pacific Ethnomathematics: Pedagogy and Practices in Mathematics Education, International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning. In light of the changing ethnic, racial, and cultural demographics in U.S. schools, there is a growing need by scholars and practitioners for teaching practices that are informed by cultural knowledge possessed by students. This comes at a time when standardized testing of student achievement has been given a central role in efforts to improve K-12 education such as the Mathematics Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This article begins with a discussion of ethnomathematics as a conceptual idea, and a practical way of rethinking ideology, content, and pedagogy in a rapidly changing climate of diversity. This is followed by a five year study on the Ethnomathematics Institute which provides strategies for implementing promising practices. In Pacific as well as global communities, it is key to understand the role of experiential, values, and place-based learning. Through ethnomathematics, we endeavor to build capacity and networks across the U.S. and Pacific by creating a database of materials and strategies that are relevant, contextualized, and sustainable. [More] Descriptors: Cultural Influences, Culturally Relevant Education, Mathematics Instruction, Student Diversity
(2014). Dynamic Bilingualism as the Norm: Envisioning a Heteroglossic Approach to Standards-Based Reform, TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect. Standards-based reforms in many Anglophone nations have been informed by "monoglossic language ideologies" that marginalize the dynamic bilingualism of emergent bilinguals. Recent developments in applied linguistics that advocate for "heteroglossic language ideologies" offer an alternative for standards-based reform. This article argues that standards-based reform initiatives will not be able to address the needs of emergent bilingual students unless they create "ideological spaces" that move away from monoglossic language ideologies toward heteroglossic language ideologies and "implementational spaces" that provide concrete tools for enacting this vision in the classroom. With a particular focus on the Common Core State Standards in the U.S. context, the article develops a vision for standards-based reform that begins to affirm and build on the dynamic bilingualism of emergent bilingual students. Specifically, the article explores two classrooms and the New York State Bilingual Common Core Initiative as starting points for theorizing how to develop ideological and implementational spaces that infuse heteroglossic language ideologies into standards-based reform initiatives while also emphasizing the role of monoglossic approaches to assessments in ultimately undermining the attempts that are currently being made. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, State Standards, Educational Change, Academic Standards