This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Kim Anderson, Tiffany Harrison, Hans Meeder, Tabitha Grossman, Mark D. Reckase, Margo Gottlieb, Daniel Anderson, Gerald Tindal, Karla Lewis, and Nancy Kober.
(2012). Student Center Activities Aligned to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects K-5, Center on Instruction. This publication helps educators create differentiated reading instruction experiences for their students by showing the relationship between two distinct resources: Student Center Activities (SCAs) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSSs). Reading specialists, reading coaches, and teachers will find this document useful in lesson planning, as it contains crosswalks that map the relationships between each Student Center Activity and a corresponding, grade-specific standard in CCSS. Specifically, this publication illustrates how SCAs relate to standards in English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects K-5 (ELA-Literacy). The SCAs were created by the Florida Center for Reading Research for K-5 classroom teachers as differentiated reading activities for use in small student groups. The activities provide practice and support skill-building in the five components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). They do not constitute a reading program and are not intended to be implemented as initial instruction. Rather, SCAs should be used for independent practice opportunities and reinforcement after the explicit teaching of concepts or skills. SCAs can also be used with struggling readers in intervention and special education settings and with adolescents who need intensive intervention in any of the five components of reading. The SCAs appear in grade span groups: K-1, 2-3 and 4-5. [More] Descriptors: Individualized Instruction, Reading Instruction, Small Group Instruction, Learning Activities
(2011). A Priority Research Agenda for Understanding the Influence of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, Horizon Research, Inc. (NJ1). The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) are part of a broader effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop common state standards in key subjects. The CCSSM specify content learning goals by grade in K-8 and by conceptual categories in the high school grades. In addition, there are eight standards for mathematical practice to be addressed throughout K-12 mathematics education, describing fundamental approaches to, and dispositions toward, learning and doing mathematics. States, districts, schools, and teachers may choose to follow, or not follow, the CCSSM specifications; and those that do will likely differ in how they interpret the standards, what they plan to do in response, and their capacity to implement their plans. As a result, and because of
(2012). The Alignment of the easyCBM Middle School Mathematics CCSS Measures to the Common Core State Standards. Technical Report #1208, Behavioral Research and Teaching. Within a response to intervention framework, teachers regularly base important instructional decisions on the results of formative assessments. The validity of these decisions depends, in part, upon the validity of the inference of students' skills drawn from the formative assessment. If formative assessment items do not genuinely measure the skills they purport to measure–that is, if they are misaligned with their content standards–then the resulting inferences may be threatened. Alignment is thus critical, given the potential practical repercussions of misalignment (e.g., students denied needed interventions). In the following technical report, we report on the alignment of a randomly selected sample of roughly half the easyCBM CCSS middle school math items with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Results suggest a high degree of alignment, with 87% of all items aligning to their corresponding standard after controlling for rater effects, and 99.6% of items aligning either to a standard or a requisite skill to the standard. Appendix A presents a PowerPoint presentation from a webinar training session. Appendix B displays the results, by item, of the primary analysis used to examine the degree to which the formative middle school math items aligned with the CCSS (while controlling for rater effects). The raw observed results are displayed by item and standard in Appendix C. [More] Descriptors: Curriculum Based Assessment, Middle Schools, Mathematics, Academic Standards
(2013). An Unexpected Influence on a Quadratic, Mathematics Teacher. Using technology to explore the coefficients of a quadratic equation can lead to an unexpected result. This article describes an investigation that involves sliders and dynamically linked representations. It guides students to notice the effect that the parameter "a" has on the graphical representation of a quadratic function in the form f(x) = ax[superscript 2] + bx + c, and understand why this effect occurs. Students engaging in this activity develop a deeper understanding of quadratic functions. This investigation uses dynamic sliders connected to quadratic function parameters and the symbolic manipulation capabilities of a computer algebra system to understand this complexity. In the process, students develop a deeper understanding of the quadratic function concept and the connections among its graphical, standard, and vertex forms. Knowledge that is rich in connections is more likely to be retained by students (Bransford Brown, and Cocking 2000), and the explorations into the effect of parameters described here helps prepare students for more advanced mathematics topics. In addition, this article embodies a strategic use of technology as advocated in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Standards for Mathematical Practice. [More] Descriptors: Secondary School Mathematics, Graphing Calculators, Mathematics Instruction, Educational Technology
considerable differences among school contexts and student populations, common standards are not likely to lead to the same results, either in implementation or in impacts on students. The goal in this project was to suggest a set of priorities for research that would provide the field with a reasonably broad and deep understanding of the influence of the CCSSM. The priority research agenda recommends a set of case studies, investigations of relationships, and status studies to address three overarching questions: (1) How is the mathematics education system responding to the introduction of the CCSSM? (2) What happens, and for whom, as a result? and (3) How can the CCSSM and future standards be improved? The purposes of this priority research agenda are to inform funders of mathematics education research about important areas
(2012). Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards: A Literacy Practices Approach for 6-12 Classrooms, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. As the new English Language Arts Common Core State Standards take hold across the United States, the need grows for pre-service and in-service teachers to be ready to develop curriculum and instruction that addresses their requirements. This timely, thoughtful, and comprehensive text directly meets this need. It delineates a literacy practices and critical engagement curriculum framework for 6-12 English language arts education that explains and illustrates how the Standards' highest and best intentions for student success can be implemented from a critical, culturally relevant perspective that is firmly grounded in current literacy learning theory and research. The first 6-12 English language arts methods text to be aligned with the Standards, this book also addresses their limitations–formalist assumptions about literacy learning, limited attention to media/digital literacies, lack of attention to critical literacies, and questionable assumptions about linking standards and text complexity to specific grade levels. Specific examples of teachers using the literacy practices/critical engagement curriculum framework in their classrooms shows how these limitations can be surpassed. [More] Descriptors: Learning Theories, Curriculum Development, Language Arts, State Standards
(2012). Plans to Adopt and Implement Common Core State Standards in the Southeast Region States. Summary. Issues & Answers. REL 2012-No. 136, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Based on interviews with state officials in the six Southeast Region states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina), this study describes state processes for adopting the Common Core State Standards (a common set of expectations across states for what students are expected to know in English language arts and math) and plans for implementing the common standards and aligning state assessment systems to them. This study used interviews with state education agency staff in the Southeast Region to examine three research questions about the Common Core State Standards: (1) What processes did the six Southeast Region states use for adopting the common standards?; (2) What is (or will be) the process for state implementation of the common standards?; and (3) How are the states planning to address the alignment of their assessment programs to the common standards? The following are the key findings: (1) Respondents in all six states reported that one step in the adoption process was state education agency review of the common standards to determine the extent of alignment between the common standards and existing state standards and to gather information to disseminate to the public; (2) Four states (Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina) did not adopt any state-specific standards in addition to the common standards. Alabama and Georgia did; (3) Respondents in Florida and Mississippi reported that teachers in their state will begin teaching under the common standards in 2011/12. Respondents in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina reported that teachers will begin doing so in 2012/13. The respondent in South Carolina reported that teachers will begin doing so in 2013/14. States varied in how they will roll out their teaching timeline–all at once for grades K-12 or phased in over time in different grades; (4) All six states reported a general implementation process moving from developing curriculum and instruction resources to training educators to teaching the standards in classrooms. All six states have dedicated 2011/12 to educator training. Some states also plan to develop resources and materials in 2011/12, and Florida and Mississippi will also begin classroom implementation. All six implementation timelines call for teaching the common standards before preparing new assessments aligned with them (expected in 2014/15); (5) All six states reported that state education agency staff are training educators on the new common standards, with three states (Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina) also involving staff at regional professional development agencies. All six state respondents reported that their states will use a combination of approaches to deliver training, including face-to-face training for school staff, online sessions for district staff and teachers, and train-the-trainer sessions for district teams, who in turn will train teachers; (6) In four states (Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina), respondents reported that monitoring standards implementation will occur at the local level. North Carolina will tie monitoring of local implementation of the common standards to the statewide evaluation of implementation of the state's Race to the Top initiative. At the time of data collection, Alabama had not yet decided whether the state education agency would monitor local implementation; and (7) All six respondents reported that their state will follow the timeline and process of the assessment consortium to which they belong. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina are members of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers consortium; Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina are members of the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium. Alabama and South Carolina, members of both consortia, have not yet decided which consortium's assessments they will use. The findings of this study are limited by the small number of interviews conducted–one per state–and cannot be generalized beyond the study period since state-level plans, policies, and procedures are continually evolving and may have been updated since the completion of data collection. The report is nevertheless useful, because it examines the six states' ongoing work on the Common Core State Standards–itself a new and evolving reform initiative nationwide. Education leaders and policymakers can benefit from learning how other states are approaching this work. [For the full report, "Plans to Adopt and Implement Common Core State Standards in the Southeast Region States. Issues & Answers. REL 2012-No. 136," see ED528960.] [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, Elementary Secondary Education, Alignment (Education)
of investigation to consider supporting, and to suggest to the mathematics education research community focal areas of study to build the field's knowledge about the influence of the CCSSM. The following are appended: (1) Contributors; and (2) Other Research Areas of Interest for Understanding the Influence of the CCSSM. [This report was written with William O. Fulkerson, Adrienne A. Smith, and Shayla M. Thomas.] [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, State Standards, Mathematics Education, Educational Objectives
(2013). Collaborative Online Projects for English Language Learners in Science, Cultural Studies of Science Education. This paper summarizes how collaborative online projects (COPs) are used to facilitate science content-area learning for English Learners of Hispanic origin. This is a Mexico-USA partnership project funded by the National Science Foundation. A COP is a 10-week thematic science unit, completely online, and bilingual (Spanish and English) designed to provide collaborative learning experiences with culturally and linguistically relevant science instruction in an interactive and multimodal learning environment. Units are integrated with explicit instructional lessons that include: (a) hands-on and laboratory activities, (b) interactive materials and interactive games with immediate feedback, (c) animated video tutorials, (d) discussion forums where students exchange scientific learning across classrooms in the USA and in Mexico, and (e) summative and formative assessments. Thematic units have been aligned to U.S. National Science Education Standards and are under current revisions for alignment to the Common Core State Standards. Training materials for the teachers have been integrated into the project website to facilitate self-paced and independent learning. Preliminary findings of our pre-experimental study with a sample of 53 students (81% ELs), distributed across three different groups, resulted in a 21% statistically significant points increase from pretest to posttest assessments of science content learning, t(52) = 11.07, p = 0.000. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, English Language Learners, Science Instruction, Partnerships in Education
(2012). Common Core State Standards & Career and Technical Education: Bridging the Divide between College and Career Readiness, Achieve, Inc.. As states are working to align their education systems with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in support of the goal of graduating all students ready for college, careers and life, academic and career and technical education (CTE) leaders at the state and local levels can and should maximize this opportunity to finally break down the silos between their disciplines and collectively find ways to ensure that the new standards rigorously engage all students in both academic and CTE courses. Bridging this divide, however, will happen only with intentionality and forethought at the policy and program levels. A substantial gap remains between the opportunity and need for engagement of the CTE community and CTE's current level of involvement in the implementation of the CCSS. Nearly half of the states that responded to an Achieve survey report that they have no CTE representation on their CCSS implementation teams, implying that in their states the CCSS are (currently) being viewed as purely an academic initiative, despite interest from CTE leaders to be involved. This paper aims to provide guidance to state education leaders about how they can maximize the opportunity to better align academics and CTE through the implementation of the new CCSS by: (1) Summarizing what state leaders are currently doing to integrate the CCSS and CTE; (2) Providing specific strategies and supporting examples of what particular states are doing; and (3) Identifying common barriers and challenges that state leaders face. The Survey and Its Findings are appended. [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, State Standards, Vocational Education, College Readiness
(2011). The Common Core State Standards: Implications for Higher Education in the West. Policy Insights, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathematics seek to better prepare students across the nation for college and careers, raising both expectations and achievement in every state that chooses to adopt them. Created through an initiative led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers–with input from researchers, policymakers, teachers, and the general public–the CCSS align college and work expectations through rigorous content and the application of knowledge via the demonstration of higher order skills. To date, all but eight states have formally adopted the CCSS; the only Western states that have not are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota and Washington (which has provisionally adopted them). This unprecedented movement toward common academic standards in K-12 creates important challenges and implications for higher education. As the CCSS are implemented in states, higher education leaders need to be engaged in the discussions and policy changes that will result. [More] Descriptors: Higher Education, Elementary Secondary Education, State Standards, Academic Standards
(2013). Surveys of Enacted Curriculum Content & Instruction in Focus. The "Surveys of Enacted Curriculum" (SEC) is a Web-based tool that provides K-12 mathematics, science, English language arts, and social studies teachers with consistent data, both on current instructional practices and the content actually being taught in their classrooms (the "how" and the "what"). Survey results are presented in clear and accessible charts and graphs to facilitate data analysis and discussion. The SEC's comprehensive data analysis and reporting tools help teachers, administrators, and policymakers to: (1) Align classroom instruction with state standards and assessments; (2) Measure indicators of instruction and their relationship to student achievement; (3) Analyze instructional practices and teacher preparation to develop a needs assessment in low performance areas; and (4) Plan and evaluate professional development and related staff development initiatives. The SEC will pinpoint how instruction aligns with content by guiding a teacher's and his/her colleagues in answering critical questions: (1) Is what we teach truly aligned with our state standards–the content our students should learn? How do we compare to the Common Core State Standards?; (2) Do we devote the right amount of instructional time to the right content?; (3) Can we identify the connection between current instructional practices and low performance relative to certain standards?; (4) Are our instructional practices consistent with prevailing research on effective practices?; and (5) What types of professional development do we need? [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Teaching Methods, Needs Assessment, Faculty Development
(2012). Implementing the Common Core State Standards in Districts with English Language Learners: What Are School Boards to Do?, State Education Standard. In the country's multilingual, multicultural schools, English language learners (ELLs)–students eligible to receive language support to access and achieve grade-level content–are the fastest growing K-12 population. Demographic trends of the past decade indicate a steady rise in the number of English language learners to over five million students, with many states seeing a greater than 100 percent increase in ELL enrollment during this period. English language learners have become more visible on the education policy landscape, as well. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) has clearly played a part in this raising of national awareness. During this time, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have opened a new era of educational excellence for the vast majority of states. Infusing higher-order thinking from the early years upward is testimony that states can set high expectations for all their students. The comprehensiveness of the Common Core invites states to systematically identify its embedded academic demands, translate this rigor into realistic and obtainable educational goals, and plan for sustained professional development for stakeholder groups. This article addresses some of the choices and challenges state and local boards of education face in formulating and directing policy related to the Common Core through the lens of ELLs. It offers four interdependent suggestions that can help jump start state and local school board policies to maximize opportunities for success for English language learners in school and beyond. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, State Standards, Stakeholders, Educational Quality
(2013). Highlights of Conference on Using Student Test Scores to Measure Teacher Performance: The State of the Art in Research and Practice, Education Policy Center, Michigan State University. The push for accountability in public schooling has extended to the measurement of teacher performance, accelerated by federal efforts through Race to the Top. Currently, a large number of states and districts across the country are computing measures of teacher performance based on the standardized test scores of their students and using them to help categorize teachers as effective or ineffective. With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in the majority of states and the development of specific sets of assessments that align with them, it is particularly urgent to open up the field right now to talk about the best way to compute teacher performance measures based on the evidence that has been compiled. On October 10-11, 2013, a conference took place that brought together more than 80 researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners from across the U.S. to discuss how to promote best practices in constructing and implementing value-added and growth measures of teacher performance. The primary goal of the conference was to make a positive impact on policy at a critical point in time, by: (1) raising awareness regarding the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of computing teacher performance measures; and (2) discussing how to disseminate this information in a way that will enable school systems to make informed choices as they implement teacher evaluation systems. [More] Descriptors: Scores, Outcome Measures, Student Records, Teacher Evaluation
(2011). Realizing the Potential: How Governors Can Lead Effective Implementation of the Common Core State Standards, NGA Center for Best Practices. In recent years, governors, chief state school officers, business leaders, and college faculty have grown increasingly concerned that American students are not adequately prepared either for college or for the workforce. Governors and chief state school officers understood that the changing economy and persistent achievement gaps required a dramatic shift in academic expectations. Further, they realized their states were no longer well served by a system in which each state had its own standards for what students should know and be able to do. In 2008, to better prepare all students for college and the workforce, governors and chief state school officers embarked on an historic, state-led effort to create a common core of academic standards in English language arts and mathematics for grades kindergarten through 12 (K-12). They insisted that the standards be based on research and evidence, be internationally benchmarked, and be aligned with college and workforce expectations. The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) led the effort and, in June 2010, the NGA Center and CCSSO released the newly developed Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in arts and mathematics for K-12. As of September 2011, 44 states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands, serving more than 80 percent of the nation's K-12 student population, had adopted the new standards in both English language arts and mathematics. The development and widespread adoption by states of the CCSS are an historic milestone in American education. Effectively implementing the CCSS in schools and K-12 classrooms has the potential to transform education in the United States by narrowing achievement gaps and ensuring that every student graduates from high school ready for college and work. Implementing the CCSS will be challenging because it will require significant changes in instruction, assessment, educator preparation and development, curriculum and materials, and accountability measures. Much of the work pertaining to implementation of the CCSS will be done in schools and classrooms by teachers and principals and their districts. Nevertheless, governors and other state policymakers can play a critical leadership role in supporting implementation of the CCSS. Governors' authority over education and the tools with which they can take action vary considerably from state to state, yet all governors should consider taking the following actions to support implementing the CCSS: (1) Communicate a vision for reform; (2) Identify performance goals and measure progress; (3) Engage key leaders from education, business, and philanthropy; (4) Build educator capacity; (5) Lead transitions in state assessments and accountability policy; (6) Support local development and acquisition of new curricula and materials; and (7) Maximize resources and share costs. Appended are: (1) A Sample Tool to Organize State Policy Decisions Pertaining to the Implementation of the Common Core State Standards; and (2) Educator Capacity Worksheet. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Language Arts, State Standards, Academic Standards
(2011). Common Core State Standards: Progress and Challenges in School Districts' Implementation, Center on Education Policy. As of August 2011, 44 states and the District of Columbia had adopted the voluntary common core state standards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathematics released in June 2010 by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The product of a state-led initiative, the standards are intended to set clear expectations for learning for grades K-12 that are consistent from state to state. The standards also aim to ensure that high school graduates possess the knowledge and skills needed for college and a globally competitive workforce. States are undertaking a variety of activities to implement the CCSS, but if these standards are to guide education reform in the ways envisioned by the adopting states, much work will also need to be done at the school district level. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring that students master the knowledge and skills in the standards rests with districts and schools, and their administrators and teachers. This report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit organization, describes school districts' perceptions about the impact of the common core state standards, their progress in implementing these standards, and the challenges they face in doing so. The information is based on a survey of a nationally representative sample of school districts conducted in the winter and spring of 2011. The survey covered a range of topics, including district budgets, federal stimulus money, education reform, and the CCSS. The information in this report is based on responses to questions specifically about the CCSS from districts that correctly reported their state was one of the 43 states and D.C. that had adopted the standards at the time the survey was analyzed. Other topics addressed in the district survey are covered in a June 2011 CEP report (2011a). The findings in this report provide a snapshot of what districts had done or were planning to do to implement the CCSS standards when the survey was administered in early 2011. Since then, it is likely that states and districts have moved ahead with additional implementation activities. Six key findings about the CCSS emerged from the district survey: (1) Almost three-fifths of the districts in states that have adopted the CCSS viewed these standards as more rigorous than the ones they are replacing and expected the CCSS to improve student learning; (2) Two-thirds of the districts in CCSS-adopting states have begun to develop a comprehensive plan and timeline for implementing the standards or intend to do so in school year 2011-12. Sixty-one percent of the districts are developing and/or purchasing curriculum materials; (3) Adequate funding is a major challenge; (4) About two-thirds of the districts in adopting states cited inadequate or unclear state guidance on the CCSS as a major challenge; (5) Districts appear to face relatively little resistance to implementing the CCSS from parents, community members, or educators; and (6) District or school-level staff participated in various state, regional, or district activities in school year 2010-11 to become informed about the common score state standards. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, State Standards, School Districts, Educational Change
(2011). Common Core State Standards: An Example of Data-Less Decision Making, AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) initiative continues to move forward. As of October 2010, 37 states and territories made the CCSS the legal law of their land in terms of the mathematics and language arts curricula used in their public schools. Over 170 organizations, education-related and corporations alike, have pledged their support to the initiative. In this article, the author argues that the evidence presented by its developers, the National Governors Association (NGA) and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), seems lacking compared to the independent reviews and the available research on the topic that suggest the CCSS and those who support them are misguided. The standards have not been validated empirically and no metric has been set to monitor the intended and unintended consequences they will have on the education system and children. Yet most of the nation's governors, state education leaders, and many education organizations remain committed to the initiative. The author contends that children have a right to a quality education. School leaders, those who prepare them, and the people who lead professional organizations have a duty to help provide the quality. Children do not have a seat at the policy-making table. Policy is thrust upon them, not created with them. They are helpless to defend themselves against poor decision making. They do not have a voice. They have only the voices of the adults who are supposed to know better. The author stresses that if some school leaders and their organizations do not want to stand up for children then they should stand down and let those who are willing assume the leadership reins. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Educational Quality, Educational Change, Decision Making